It is very rare that one country seemingly has a monopoly on well-crystallized specimens of a mineral species, but that is just the case with Germany and Nickelskutterudite, although smaller crystals have been found in Spain. Discovered at Schneeberg, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony, Germany in the late 1800s, most of the finest crystals of this uncommon silvery metallic nickel arsenide have come from a small area extending outwards from the town but the number of really fine crystallized specimens is not large. This remarkable smaller display specimen is from about 4 km east of the centre of Schneeberg from Shaft 366 at Alberoda. This was a famous uranium mine, operated from the 1950s until closure in 1990, thus giving a window of time from when it was likely collected and coming from the 1350 m level probably helps to fine-tune this further. Bright and fresh, as a relatively solid crystallized aggregate with excellent rounded crystals lining small cavities this is an extremely fine presentation of this rare species and it comes from the wider area around the Type Locality town. It has been repaired - where it split during trimming - but is still a remarkable crystallized Nickelskutterudite.
