Here is an unusual mineral! We are used to seeing native metals like copper, gold, silver but not iron. Excellent specimens are found at the Hungtukan Massif, in Russia. Apparently, an molten, iron-rich rock intruded through other rocks, encountered carbon, probably in the form of coal and after a reduction reaction, native iron formed and crystallized as globs in the rock. Here is a sawn and polished slice from a sample from that deposit, showing VERY coarse, pure globs of native iron. If you draw a knife across one of these globs, it parts like butter! Excellent!
