Gersdorffite

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Gersdorffite
Gersdorffit - Lobenstein, Vogtland.jpg
Gersdorffite
General
Category Mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
NiAsS
Strunz classification 2.EB.25
Crystal system P213 polytype: cubic
Pa3 polytype: cubic
Pca21 polytype: orthorhombic
Identification
Colorsilver white to steel gray
Mohs scale hardness5–5.5
Streak grayish black
Specific gravity 5.6–6.2

Gersdorffite or Nickel glance (trivial name) is a nickel arsenic sulfide mineral with formula NiAsS. It crystallizes in the isometric system showing diploidal symmetry. It occurs as euhedral to massive opaque, metallic grey-black to silver white forms. Gersdorffite belongs to a solid solution series with cobaltite, CoAsS. Antimony freely substitutes also leading to ullmannite, NiSbS. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 5.9 to 6.33.

Gersdorffite has three crystallisation forms: Gersdorffite-P213 (NiAsS), Gersdorffite-Pa3 (Ni(As,S)2) and Gersdorffite-Pca21 (NiAsS). [1] Gersdorffite occurs as a hydrothermal vein mineral along with other nickel sulfides. Associated minerals include nickeline, nickel-skutterudite, cobaltite, ullmannite, maucherite, löllingite, platinum-group minerals, millerite, pyrite, marcasite, and chalcopyrite.

Gersdorffite was first described in 1843 and named in 1845 for Johann von Gersdorff (1781–1849), owner of the nickel mine at Schladming, Austria the type locality.

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Pentlandite is an iron–nickel sulfide with the chemical formula (Fe,Ni)9S8. Pentlandite has a narrow variation range in nickel to iron ratios (Ni:Fe), but it is usually described as 1:1. In some cases, this ratio is skewed by the presence of pyrrhotite inclusions. It also contains minor cobalt, usually at low levels as a fraction of weight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickeline</span> Nickel arsenide mineral

Nickeline or niccolite is a mineral consisting primarily of nickel arsenide (NiAs). The naturally-occurring mineral contains roughly 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic by mass, but composition of the mineral may vary slightly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ullmannite</span> Nickel antimony sulfide mineral

Ullmannite or Nickel glance is a nickel antimony sulfide mineral with formula: NiSbS. Considerable substitution occurs with cobalt and iron in the nickel site along with bismuth and arsenic in the antimony site. A solid solution series exists with the high cobalt willyamite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skutterudite</span> Cobalt arsenide mineral

Skutterudite is a cobalt arsenide mineral containing variable amounts of nickel and iron substituting for cobalt with the ideal formula CoAs3. Some references give the arsenic a variable formula subscript of 2–3. High nickel varieties are referred to as nickel-skutterudite, previously chloanthite. It is a hydrothermal ore mineral found in moderate to high temperature veins with other Ni-Co minerals. Associated minerals are arsenopyrite, native silver, erythrite, annabergite, nickeline, cobaltite, silver sulfosalts, native bismuth, calcite, siderite, barite and quartz. It is mined as an ore of cobalt and nickel with a by-product of arsenic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erythrite</span> Hydrated cobalt arsenate mineral

Erythrite or red cobalt is a secondary hydrated cobalt arsenate mineral with the formula Co
3
(AsO
4
)
2
•8H
2
O
. Erythrite and annabergite, chemical formula Ni
3
(AsO
4
)
2
•8H
2
O
, or nickel arsenate form a complete series with the general formula (Co,Ni)
3
(AsO
4
)
2
•8H
2
O
.

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Cobaltite is a sulfide mineral composed of cobalt, arsenic, and sulfur, CoAsS. It naturally appears in the form of a tetartoid, a form of dodecahedron with chiral tetrahedral symmetry. Its impurities may contain up to 10% iron and variable amounts of nickel. Structurally, it resembles pyrite (FeS2) with one of the sulfur atoms replaced by an arsenic atom.

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The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) or disulfide (S22−) as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, the arsenides, the antimonides, the bismuthinides, the sulfarsenides and the sulfosalts. Sulfide minerals are inorganic compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sperrylite</span>

Sperrylite is a platinum arsenide mineral with the chemical formula PtAs2 and is an opaque metallic tin white mineral which crystallizes in the isometric system with the pyrite group structure. It forms cubic, octahedral or pyritohedral crystals in addition to massive and reniform habits. It has a Mohs hardness of 6–7 and a very high specific gravity of 10.6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siegenite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heazlewoodite</span>

Heazlewoodite, Ni3S2, is a rare sulfur-poor nickel sulfide mineral found in serpentinitized dunite. It occurs as disseminations and masses of opaque, metallic light bronze to brassy yellow grains which crystallize in the trigonal crystal system. It has a hardness of 4, a specific gravity of 5.82. Heazlewoodite was first described in 1896 from Heazlewood, Tasmania, Australia.

The Widgiemooltha Komatiite is a formation of komatiite in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creighton Mine</span> Underground mine in Canada

Creighton Mine is an underground nickel, copper, and platinum-group elements (PGE) mine. It is presently owned and operated by Vale Limited in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Open pit mining began in 1901, and underground mining began in 1906. The mine is situated in the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in its South Range geologic unit. The mine is the source of many excavation-related seismic events, such as earthquakes and rock burst events. It is home to SNOLAB, and is currently the deepest nickel mine in Canada. Expansion projects to deepen the Creighton Mine are currently underway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrollite</span> Mineral

Carrollite, CuCo2S4, is a sulfide of copper and cobalt, often with substantial substitution of nickel for the metal ions, and a member of the linnaeite group. It is named after the type locality in Carroll County, Maryland, US, at the Patapsco mine, Sykesville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krutovite</span>

Krutovite is a cubic nickel diarsenide with a chemical composition of NiAs2 and a sulfur content of 0.02-0.34 weight percent. Krutovite is composed of nickel and arsenic with trace to minor amounts of cobalt, iron, copper, sulfur, and antimony.

The sulfarsenide minerals are a subgroup of the sulfide minerals which include arsenic replacing sulfur as an anion in the formula. Antimony and bismuth may occur with or in place of the arsenic as in ullmannite. The chemical formula of a sulfarsenide looks like a sulfosalt, however the structures are distinctly different. In sulfosalts the arsenic replaces a metal ion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cobalt extraction</span>

Cobalt extraction refers to the techniques used to extract cobalt from its ores and other compound ores. Several methods exist for the separation of cobalt from copper and nickel. They depend on the concentration of cobalt and the exact composition of the ore used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel sulfide</span> Chemical compound

Nickel sulfide is any inorganic compound with the formula NiSx. These compounds range in color from bronze (Ni3S2) to black (NiS2). The nickel sulfide with simplest stoichiometry is NiS, also known as the mineral millerite. From the economic perspective, Ni9S8, the mineral pentlandite, is the chief source of mined nickel. Other minerals include heazlewoodite (Ni3S2) and polydymite (Ni3S4), and the mineral Vaesite (NiS2). Some nickel sulfides are used commercially as catalysts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Köttigite</span>

Köttigite is a rare hydrated zinc arsenate which was discovered in 1849 and named by James Dwight Dana in 1850 in honour of Otto Friedrich Köttig (1824–1892), a German chemist from Schneeberg, Saxony, who made the first chemical analysis of the mineral. It has the formula Zn3(AsO4)2·8H2O and it is a dimorph of metaköttigite, which means that the two minerals have the same formula, but a different structure: köttigite is monoclinic and metaköttigite is triclinic. There are several minerals with similar formulae but with other cations in place of the zinc. Iron forms parasymplesite Fe2+3(AsO4)2·8H2O; cobalt forms the distinctively coloured pinkish purple mineral erythrite Co3(AsO4)2·8H2O and nickel forms annabergite Ni3(AsO4)2·8H2O. Köttigite forms series with all three of these minerals and they are all members of the vivianite group.

Nickel compounds are chemical compounds containing the element nickel which is a member of the group 10 of the periodic table. Most compounds in the group have an oxidation state of +2. Nickel is classified as a transition metal with nickel(II) having much chemical behaviour in common with iron(II) and cobalt(II). Many salts of nickel(II) are isomorphous with salts of magnesium due to the ionic radii of the cations being almost the same. Nickel forms many coordination complexes. Nickel tetracarbonyl was the first pure metal carbonyl produced, and is unusual in its volatility. Metalloproteins containing nickel are found in biological systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel glance</span> Topics referred to by the same term

Nickel glance is a trivial name given by miners, miners, geologists and other professions to at least two ore nickel minerals. It may refer to:

References

  1. Bayliss P (1982) A further crystal structure refinement of gersdorffite, American Mineralogist 67, 1058–1064