Cobaltite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Cobaltite is a metallic gemstone composed of cobalt, sulfur, and arsenic. It’s more well-known as an industrial material and collector’s mineral than a jewelry gem.

Is cobaltite rare? Yep, cobaltite is fairly rare as a mineral and even rarer as a gemstone. It’s hardly ever seen in jewelry, though its metallic luster and some of its colors are attractive.

What is the color of cobaltite? It’s usually silvery-white, but it can also be reddish, blackish-gray, or even steel gray with a violet undertone.

Want to learn more about this shiny treasure? Stick around as we go over all of cobaltite’s properties, history, prices, benefits, and more!

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

What Is Cobaltite Stone?

Cobaltite is a metallic semi-precious gemstone with the monikers:

• Bright white cobalt

• Cobaltine

• Cobalt glance

• Glanzkobalt / Glanzkobold / Glanzkobaltkies

The last three are various German terms that translate to “lustrous cobalt.”

Wait, are cobalt and cobaltite the same? Not exactly, but cobaltite contains cobalt, which is a big part of its industrial value.

So, what is cobaltite used for?

Cobaltite Uses

Cobaltite is one of the main mineral ores of cobalt. However, most cobalt today is produced as a by-product of copper and nickel smelting.

The element cobalt isn’t super rare, but it’s critical to many fields, including top dogs like the military and electronic industries.

Currently, the top cobalt uses are rechargeable battery electrodes and superalloys (often used in aircraft engines).

Other cobalt uses include making:

• Magnets

• Ceramics & glass

• Paints, inks & varnishes

• Stainless & magnetic steels

• Cemented carbides (extremely hard materials mostly used for cutting)

• High-density audio and video recording equipment

• Electroplating

• Medical supply sterilizer, medical tracer, and gamma ray cancer treatment (cobalt-60)

• Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)

• Catalysts

The catalyst uses are largely related to manufacturing renewable energy sources like clean fuels.

Lastly, scientists have made synthetic cobaltite for research into its mineralogy.

Speaking of its mineralogy…

Pictured above: Silver-colored cobaltite on matrix | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Cobaltite Specifications & Characteristics

As a cobalt sulfoarsenide, cobaltite’s formula is CoAsS. Iron is a very common impurity, up to 10 percent of the composition, so some write the formula as (Co,Fe)AsS. Another common impurity is nickel, along with sometimes copper, lead, or antimony.

The stone resembles pyrite, displaying the same symmetry in crystal form because pyrite is cubic and cobaltite is often pseudo-cubic or pseudo-pyritohedral (twelve-sided, pentagonal faces).

More often, cobaltite occurs as granular to compact masses.

You can usually identify cobaltite by its high density, as it’s heavier than most gems.

Cobaltite properties listed:

• Mohs hardness: 5.5

• Color: Silver-white, reddish silver, blackish-gray, violet steel gray, black

• Crystal structure: Orthorhombic, pseudo-cubic

• Luster: Metallic

• Transparency: Opaque

• Refractive index: Over-the-limit of gemological instruments

• Density: 6.33

• Cleavage: Perfect on {001}

• Fracture: Uneven/irregular

• Streak: Grayish-black

• Luminescence: None

• Pleochroism: Unobservable or very weak on grain boundaries

• Birefringence: None

• Dispersion: None

Types of Cobaltite

Cobaltite has a few varieties based on impurities present:

• Ferrocobaltite: Iron replaces some of the cobalt

• Iron-Bearing Cobaltite: Contains some iron

• Palladium-bearing Cobalatite: Contains palladium up to 1.1 percent by weight

Despite the name, spherocobaltite (or sphaerocobaltite) is actually a cobalt carbonate. Another confusing one is erythrite, a hydrated cobalt arsenate also called “red cobalt” or “cobalt glance.”

Pictured above: Cobaltite crystal specimen on antique wax pedestal thumbnail mount | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Cobaltite Meaning & History

Cobaltite symbolizes creativity, imagination, and liberation from self-doubt or self-imposed restriction.

A popular Native American item often made with cobaltite cabochons is called Naja. Worn as a single pendant or part of a squash blossom necklace, the Naja is named from the Navajo term for “crescent” after its crescent shape.

Naja jewelry designs are believed to have originated with the Moors. The designs vary among artists, but some Moorish designs have hands at the bottom of the crescent representing the “hands of Fatima” or “Hamsa,” a protective symbol with various religious associations.

Among the Navajo people, the Naja design symbolizes resilience during great hardship and the idea of creating beauty from strife.

History

Cobaltite was likely used by ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians to dye various materials — jewelry, paints, glass, ceramics, etc. — a distinctive blue color, since cobalt use as a coloring agent dates back to the Bronze Age (3300 BC to 1200 BC).

The name “cobaltite” is tied to “cobalt,” which has a fascinating etymology.

Around the 1500s to 1600s, silver miners in Saxony, Germany would often find minerals that looked like silver ores but couldn’t be smelted and emitted putrid-smelling, toxic fumes (arsenic sulfide).

They blamed the issue on a mythical creature named “Kobold.” They thought the mischievous goblin was either casting a spell to prevent the stone’s metal from being extracted or stealing the real silver ores and replacing them with silver-looking but unusable rocks.

A skilled smelter came to town and experimented on these supposedly worthless rocks. His secrecy led the town to almost accuse him of witchcraft until they learned that he’d discovered a new brilliant blue pigment.

Discovery of Cobalt

For many years, folks thought the distinct blue coloring came from the element bismuth. Swedish chemist George Brandt, however, believed it was an unknown element. In the 1730s, he proved his theory and discovered the element cobalt in the German “kobold” ores.

In 1739, Brandt published his discovery of cobalt, calling it a semi-metallic element distinct from bismuth. In 1742, he successfully isolated cobalt.

German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth wrote one of the earliest publications about the cobaltite mineral in 1797. He called it Glanzkobalts, German for “lustrous cobalt.”

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Cobaltite Healing Properties

As primarily gray healing stones, cobaltite crystals have the gentle grounding and protective properties of other gray gemstones. They’re also used primarily as root chakra stones in energy healing.

Physical Healing

Physically, cobaltite is believed to help with:

• Infections

• Blood problems

• Lung or respiratory issues

• Cellular disorders

• Weakened immune system

Emotional Healing

Emotionally, cobaltite is said to be uplifting, particularly for the mind. Crystal healers recommend it for boosting creativity, dispelling self-doubt, and facilitating both intellectual and emotional intelligence.

Cobaltite Gemstone Properties

Cobaltite gemstone value isn’t standardized like other gems, since they’re hardly seen in jewelry. We’ll still touch on how each standard factor applies to cobaltite:

• Color: Most specimens have a dark gray coloring, which is more desirable if the luster is bright. However, reddish or violet-tinged stones can carry value.

• Cut: Most cobaltite gemstones are cut into attractive, metallic cabochons. The stone is rarely faceted. Cobaltite crystals in Rajasthan, India, are called sehta and used locally to make blue enamel on silver and gold jewelry or ornamental items.

• Luster: A bright, evenly distributed, silvery metallic luster can bring cobaltite higher value. The stone’s luster is its primary appeal in the gem world.

• Carat Weight: Faceted cobaltites are rare, but some can be 15 to 25 cts, partly thanks to cobaltite’s high density. Massive material can become cabochons or carvings of virtually any size.

Before it reaches any gem cutters, how is cobaltite formed?

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Cobaltite Formation & Sources

Cobaltite often forms when hot water containing dissolved elements settles into crevices of rocks, the water evaporates, and the elements crystallize into cobaltite. It can also form when rocks undergo metamorphism, altering the minerals inside into cobaltite.

As such, the stone can be found in contact metamorphic rocks and high-temperature hydrothermal deposits.

Cobaltite occurrence usually happens near:

• Allanite

• Calcite

• Chalcopyrite

• Magnetite

• Scapolite

• Skutterudite

• Sphalerite

• Titanite

• Zoisite

Geographically, where is cobaltite most commonly found?

Mining Locations

The top sources of gem-quality cobaltite material are Canada (particularly Cobalt, Ontario), Norway, and Sweden (particularly Tunaberg).

Other significant sources of cobaltite crystals are:

• Australia

• Azerbaijan

• Chile

• DR of Congo

• Germany

• India

• Mexico

• Morocco

• UK (England)

• USA (California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah)

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Cobaltite Price & Value

Despite their relative rarity, cobaltite gemstones aren’t super pricey. This is likely because demand isn’t very high.

Faceted cobaltites for sale are generally around $10 to $30 per carat, or roughly $50 to $400 each (carat weights ranging from about 6 to 25 cts).

Cobaltite cabochons range from $20 to $150, with more lustrous metallic stones commanding higher prices. Tumbled cobaltites are around $0.15 per carat.

Rough cobaltite specimens can be around $5 or less for small crystals, up to $1500 to $4,000 or over for huge specimens on sulfide matrices.

Before we wrap up, we’ll go over gemstone care.

Cobaltite Care and Maintenance

Safety first: since cobaltite contains toxic arsenic and cobalt, it’s important to avoid inhaling particles that can come off during cutting or polishing.

Polished or fashioned pieces are generally safe to wear, but we recommend protective settings to avoid scratches. Always wash your hands after handling rough cobaltite, and keep it away from anyone who might put it in their mouth — dogs, kids, etc.

You can clean cobaltite with a soft toothbrush, warm water, and mild soap.

Feeling Charmed by Cobaltite?

Cobalt may be more famous than cobaltite, but we wouldn’t know about it without this stone! This lustrous beauty has a rich history of lore stretching from indigenous America to Middle-Ages Germany, and plenty of calming beauty to add to any collection.

Buy cobaltite and more rare gemstones today!