Berryite

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Berryite
Berryite.jpg
Black acicular crystals of the rare Pb-Ag sulfide from a Colorado locality: Mike Mine, San Juan County, Colorado, United States
General
Category Mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu3Ag2Pb3Bi7S16
IMA symbol Bry [1]
Strunz classification 2.HB.20d (10th)
Dana classification3.6.15.1
Crystal system Monoclinic
Crystal class 2/m (Prismatic)
Unit cell 1,445.93 Å3
Identification
ColourBluish-grey, white, grey-white
Twinning Repeated
Cleavage Poor/indistinct
Mohs scale hardness3.5
Luster Metallic
Diaphaneity Opaque
Specific gravity 6.7
Density 6.7 g/cm3 (measured)
Pleochroism Weak

Berryite is a mineral with the formula Pb3(Ag,Cu)5Bi7S16. It occurs as gray to blue-gray monoclinic prisms. It is opaque and has a metallic luster. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 and a specific gravity of 6.7.

It was first identified in 1965 using X-ray diffraction by mineralogist Leonard Gascoigne Berry (1914–1982). It is found in Park and San Juan counties in Colorado. It occurs in sulfide bearing quartz veins in Colorado and with siderite-rich cryolite in Ivigtut, Greenland.

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References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.