Safflorite

Safflorite is a cobalt nickel iron arsenate that is a member of the Lollingite Group and isostructural with marcasite. It forms orthorhombic, tin-white, metallic, prismatic crystals, and is usually massive with radial fibrous structure. Twinning occurs on {101} producing cruciform twins. It occurs primarily in mesothermal vein deposits associated with other nickel-cobalt minerals such as niccolite and smaltite. The type locality is Daniel mine (St. Daniel mine), Neustadtel, Schneeberg district, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany. Other notable occurrences include: Great Bear Lake, at Southern Lorrain, Ontario, Canada; Batopilas, Mexico; Bou-Azzer district, Morocco; and Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Safflorite was discovered in 1817 and named in 1835 by Johann Friedrich August Breithaupt from the German, “Safflor” because it was used in the manufacture of zaffer, an impure oxide of cobalt used as pigment.

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