About the discovery of cobalt in the Nikitinskii mine (Turinskii group) and molybdenum in the Dashkesan cobalt deposit

Abstract

The mineralographic method applied to the ores of the Nikitinskii mine revealed a mineral very similar to pyrite, but some of its features, such as its pink tint, prompted us to subject it to special research, and then we came to the assumption that it could be cobaltine (CoAsS). In addition to cobalt, the mineral slides contained chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite and a non-metallic mineral. The presence of cobalt is of great importance, since pyrite and pyrrhotite are common in the Turin copper deposits and almost always follow the copper ores. When studying the collections of the Dashkesan cobalt deposit, molybdenite (MoS₂) was discovered in two samples of cobalt ore. Molybdenite in these samples occurs only in the contact between cobaltine and magnetite, in places forming thin veinlets with a thickness ranging from fractions of a millimeter to 3-4 mm; sometimes molybdenite is in a disseminated state. The discovery of molybdenite at the Dashkesan cobalt deposit required a detailed study of the collected material to determine the possibility of excavation both in the cobalt deposit and within it.