Spherocobaltite or sphaerocobaltite is the mineral form of Cobalt(II) carbonate (CoCO3). It is a cobalt bearing member of the calcite group of carbonate minerals, crystallizing in the trigonal crystal system. Rare specimens of pure spherocobaltite typically show a rose-red color, but the color range of impure specimens extends to shades of pink and pale brown.
Discovery and occurrence
Spherocobaltite was first described in 1877 for an occurrence within cobalt and nickel veins in the St. Daniel Mine of the Schneeberg District, Ore Mountains, Saxony, Germany. The name is from the Greek "sphaira", sphere, and cobalt, in reference to its typical crystal habit and composition.1 It occurs within hydrothermal cobalt-bearing mineral deposits as a rare phase associated with roselite, erythrite, annabergite and cobalt rich calcite and dolomite.2
Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spherocobaltite.References
Spherocobaltite on Mindat http://www.mindat.org/min-3726.html ↩
Spherocobaltite in Handbook of Mineralogy http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/spherocobaltite.pdf ↩