The occurrence of native nickel-iron in the serpentine rock of the Eastern Townships of Quebec Province

Native Ni-Fe has been found over a wide area in the serpentinized asbestos-bearing rock of the eastern townships of Quebec. The chemical composition (average of 2 analyses) is: Ni 71.0%, Fe 25.3%, Co 3.5%, and Cu 0.2%. The Ni-Fe forms a single-phase alloy with a face-centered cubic structure and a cell constant which varies from 3.551 to 3.555 Aa. It occurs chiefly as tiny spheroidal grains, most of which are less than 10 microns in diameter, but also as large crenulated grains up to 100 microns in diameter, and as acicular crystals up to 100 microns in length. The Ni-Fe appears to have been formed as the result of the breakdown, during serpentinization of primary olivine and enstatite containing about 0.2% combined Ni.