(mineralogy) Bi2S3 A mineral consisting of bismuth trisulfide, which has an orthorhombic structure and is usually found in fibrous or leafy masses that are lead gray with a yellowish tarnish and a metallic luster. Also known as bismuth glance.
Bismuthinite
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Bi
Orthorhombic -- bipyramidal
Environment
Pegmatites and high-temperature ore veins.
Crystal descriptionRare in free-growing slender crystals. More often in embedded masses with a bladed or fibrous structure. Large altered crystals in pegmatites show that it can grow larger, but no unaltered giants have been found.
Physical propertiesSteel gray. Luster metallic; hardness 2; specific gravity 6.4-6.5; streak black; fracture brittle or splintery; cleavage perfect side pinacoid. Slightly sectile.
CompositionSulfide of bismuth (81.2% Bi, 18.8% S).
TestsFuses easily but volatilizes slowly, forming dark gray globules surrounded by thin yellow sublimates. The powder dissolves easily in hot concentrated nitric acid, leaving a yellow spongy insoluble residue (sulfur).
Distinguishing characteristicsMasses can be confused with stibnite and the sulfosalts. Complete volatilization under the blowpipe separates it from the sulfosalts, and the formation of a spherical globule instead of a watery liquid distinguishes it from stibnite.
OccurrenceBismuthinite is a by-product source of bismuth. It looks much like stibnite when associated with other ores, as in Bolivian tin mines. Unlike stibnite, however, also found in pegmatites as single crystals, not associated with any arsenic-antimony suite. Minute ribbonlike crystals found around fumaroles in the Lipari Is., Italy, are in part bismuthinite and part galenobismutite (PbBi 2 S 4 ), first named cannizarite when the flexible ribbonlike needles were all thought to be a new mineral. The richest bismuthinite occurrences are in Bolivia, in the tin-tungsten veins. A frequent pegmatite mineral, large masses have been found in quarries at Bedford, Westchester Co., New York, and in Boulder Co., Colorado. Pseudomorphs of bismuthinite crystals up to 2 ft. (61 cm) long and 1 in. (3 cm) thick of an often greenish-stained, earthy white bismuth carbonate (bismutite, Bi 2 [CO] 3 O 2 ) have been found associated with cyrtolite in northern Brazil.
| Wikipedia: Bismuthinite |
| Bismuthinite | |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Category | Sulfide mineral |
| Chemical formula | Bi2S3 |
| Identification | |
| Color | Lead-gray to tin-white, with a yellowish or iridescent tarnish. |
| Crystal habit | Slender prismatic to acicular, massive lamellar |
| Crystal system | Orthorhombic - Dipyramidal 2/m 2/m 2/m |
| Cleavage | [010] Perfect |
| Fracture | Brittle - sectile |
| Mohs Scale hardness | 2 |
| Luster | Metallic |
| Streak | Lead grey |
| Specific gravity | 6.8 - 7.2 |
| Optical properties | Opaque |
| References | [1][2][3] |
Bismuthinite is a mineral consisting of bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3). It is an important ore for bismuth. The crystals are steel-grey to off-white with a metallic luster. It is soft enough to be scratched with a fingernail and rather dense.
Bismuthinite forms a series with the lead, copper, bismuth mineral aikinite (PbCuBiS3).[3]
It occurs in hydrothermal veins with tourmaline-bearing copper veins associated with granite, in some high temperature gold veins, and in recent volcanic exhalation deposits. Associated minerals include native bismuth, aikinite, arsenopyrite, stannite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, tourmaline, wolframite, cassiterite and quartz.[1]
It was first reported in 1832 from the mines of Potosí, Bolivia.[2]
References
- ^ a b http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/bismuthinite.pdf Mineral Handbook
- ^ a b http://webmineral.com/data/Bismuthinite.shtml Webmineral Site
- ^ a b http://www.mindat.org/min-686.html Mindat mineral data
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 | Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Rock & Mineral Guide. Peterson Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, by Frederick H. Pough. Copyright © 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bismuthinite". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- bismuthine
- bismuth
- Greisen (mineralogy and petrology)
- stibnite
- Bismutite
- Bismuth(III) sulfide
- List of minerals
- List of minerals A-B (complete)
- Dictionary of chemical formulas
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