Kenhsuite

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Kenhsuite
Kenhsuite.jpg
Kenhsuite and cinabrio.Oriental mine, Chóvar (Castellón)Spain.
General
CategorySilphohalide mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
Hg3S2Cl2
IMA symbol Khs [1]
Crystal system Orthorhombic
Identification
ColorWhite or pale orange-pink to salmon-pink; darkening on exposure to light.
Crystal habit Acicular crystals
Mohs scale hardness2-3
Diaphaneity Transparent
References [2]

Kenhsuite is a mercury sulfide with chloride ions. It was described as a species from specimens obtained at the McDermitt mine, in Opalite, Humboldt Nevada county, (USA). The name is a tribute to Dr. Kenneth Junghwa Hsu. Professor Emeritus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (Switzerland). [3]

Contents

Physical and chemical properties

Kenhsuite appears as aggregates of capillary or needle microcrystals, with a glassy or silky sheen. The mineral is originally colorless or white in color, but is most often tinged with orange or red due to the presence of associated cinnabar. Prolonged exposure to light causes their darkening. The mercury sulfide chloride with the composition of kenhsuite is known in three polymorphic forms. [4] Kenhsuita is rhombic, while the other two are corderoite and lavrientivite. [5]

Deposits

Kenhsuite is an extremely rare mineral, known in very few localities in the world. [6] In the type locality, it was found as extremely small acicular or tabular crystals, less than 100 microns in size. The locality where the best specimens appear is the Oriental mine, in Chóvar, Castellón (Spain), where the acicular crystals usually exceed one millimeter, forming centimetric aggregates of fan-shaped crystals. [7] In these two deposits it appears associated with corderoite and cinnabar.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnabar</span> Red mercury(II) sulfide mineral, HgS

Cinnabar, or cinnabarite, also known as mercurblende is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the brilliant red or scarlet pigment termed vermilion and associated red mercury pigments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphalerite</span> Zinc-iron sulfide mineral

Sphalerite is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S. It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in sedimentary exhalative, Mississippi-Valley type, and volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. It is found in association with galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, calcite, dolomite, quartz, rhodochrosite, and fluorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stibnite</span> Sulfide mineral

Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula Sb2S3. This soft grey material crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid antimony. The name is derived from the Greek στίβι stibi through the Latin stibium as the former name for the mineral and the element antimony.

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

Creedite is a calcium aluminium sulfate fluoro hydroxide mineral with formula: Ca3Al2SO4(F,OH)10·2(H2O). Creedite forms colorless to white to purple monoclinic prismatic crystals. It often occurs as acicular radiating sprays of fine prisms. It is translucent to transparent with indices of refraction of nα = 1.461 nβ = 1.478 nγ = 1.485. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4 and a specific gravity of 2.7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimetite</span> Lead arsenate chloride mineral

Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride mineral (Pb5(AsO4)3Cl) which forms as a secondary mineral in lead deposits, usually by the oxidation of galena and arsenopyrite. The name derives from the Greek Μιμητής mimetes, meaning "imitator" and refers to mimetite's resemblance to the mineral pyromorphite. This resemblance is not coincidental, as mimetite forms a mineral series with pyromorphite (Pb5(PO4)3Cl) and with vanadinite (Pb5(VO4)3Cl). Notable occurrences are Mapimi, Durango, Mexico and Tsumeb, Namibia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brochantite</span> Copper sulfate mineral

Brochantite is a sulfate mineral, one of a number of cupric sulfates. Its chemical formula is Cu4SO4(OH)6. Formed in arid climates or in rapidly oxidizing copper sulfide deposits, it was named by Armand Lévy for his fellow Frenchman, geologist and mineralogist A. J. M. Brochant de Villiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulangerite</span> Sulfosalt mineral: lead antimony sulfide

Boulangerite or antimonbleiblende is an uncommon monoclinic orthorhombic sulfosalt mineral, lead antimony sulfide, formula Pb5Sb4S11. It was named in 1837 in honor of French mining engineer Charles Boulanger (1810–1849), and had been a valid species since pre-IMA. It was first described prior to 1959, and is now grandfathered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corderoite</span> Extremely rare mercury sulfide chloride mineral

Corderoite is an extremely rare mercury sulfide chloride mineral with formula Hg3S2Cl2. It crystallizes in the isometric crystal system. It is soft, 1.5 to 2 on the Mohs scale, and varies in color from light gray to black and rarely pink or yellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Getchell Mine</span> Mine in Nevada, USA

The Getchell Mine is an underground gold mine in the Potosi Mining District of Humboldt County, Nevada, on the east flank of the Osgood Mountains, 35 miles northeast of Winnemucca. Prospectors Edward Knight and Emmet Chase discovered gold in 1933 and located the first claims in 1934. With the financial backing of Noble Getchell and George Wingfield, the Getchell Mine, Inc. was organized in 1936 and the mine was brought into production in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duftite</span> Arsenate mineral

Duftite is a relatively common arsenate mineral with the formula CuPb(AsO4)(OH), related to conichalcite. It is green and often forms botryoidal aggregates. It is a member of the adelite-descloizite Group, Conichalcite-Duftite Series. Duftite and conichalcite specimens from Tsumeb are commonly zoned in color and composition. Microprobe analyses and X-ray powder-diffraction studies indicate extensive substitution of Zn for Cu, and Ca for Pb in the duftite structure. This indicates a solid solution among conichalcite, CaCu(AsO4 )(OH), austinite, CaZn(AsO4)(OH) and duftite PbCu(AsO4)(OH), all of them belonging to the adelite group of arsenates. It was named after Mining Councilor G Duft, Director of the Otavi Mine and Railroad Company, Tsumeb, Namibia. The type locality is the Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.

Clearcreekite is a carbonate mineral, polymorphous with peterbaylissite. The chemical formula of clearcreekite is Hg(1+)3CO3(OH)∙2H2O. It has a pale greenish yellow color and streak with tabular subhedral crystals and good cleavage on {001}. It is transparent with vitreous luster and uneven fracture. Its density (calculated from the idealized formula) is 6.96 g/cm3. The mineral is monoclinic with the space group P2/c. Clearcreekite is an extremely rare mineral from the Clear Creek mercury mine, New Idria district, San Benito County, California. It was probably formed after the alteration of other mercury minerals such as cinnabar. The mineral is named after the locality where it was found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coloradoite</span> Rare telluride ore

Coloradoite, also known as mercury telluride (HgTe), is a rare telluride ore associated with metallic deposit. Gold usually occurs within tellurides, such as coloradoite, as a high-finess native metal.

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

Getchellite is a rare sulfide of arsenic and antimony, AsSbS3, that was discovered by B. G. Weissberg of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1963, and approved as a new species by the International Mineralogical Association in 1965. Many metal sulfides are grey to black, but a few are brightly colored. Orpiment is yellow to brownish gold, cinnabar is deep red and getchellite is a bright orange red.

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

Millerite or nickel blende is a nickel sulfide mineral, NiS. It is brassy in colour and has an acicular habit, often forming radiating masses and furry aggregates. It can be distinguished from pentlandite by crystal habit, its duller colour, and general lack of association with pyrite or pyrrhotite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDermitt Caldera</span> Extinct volcanic caldera in Nevada and Oregon

The McDermitt Caldera is a large, oval-shaped caldera west of McDermitt in southeastern Oregon and northern Nevada in the United States. It is about 28 miles (45 km) long north–south and 22 miles (35 km) wide east–west. The western part of the caldera is in the Trout Creek Mountains, and the northern part is in the Oregon Canyon Mountains. The highest point of the McDermitt Caldera is Jordan Meadow Mountain at 6,816 feet (2,078 m), which is part of the Montana Mountains of Humboldt County, Nevada.

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

Kleinite is a rare mineral that has only been found in the United States and Germany that occurs in hydrothermal mercury deposits. It occurs associated with calcite, gypsum and (rarely) barite or calomel. Its color can range from pale yellow/canary yellow to orange, and it is transparent to translucent. As a photosensitive mineral, its coloration darkens when exposed to light.

Zincoberaunite is an iron and zinc phosphate mineral, the Zn analogue of beraunite. It was first described by Chukanov et al. for an occurrence in Hagendorf Sud pegmatite in Germany. Zincoberaunite occurs as a secondary mineral as an alteration product of primary phosphate minerals in granite pegmatites.

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

Queitite is a lead zinc silicate sulphate that was named after the mineral dealer Clive S. Queit, who collected the first specimens. It got approved by the IMA in 1979, and it is an extremely rare secondary mineral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidwellite</span> Rare phosphate mineral

Kidwellite in an uncommon mineral that was discovered in Arkansas in the United States. It was approved by the IMA in 1974, but it was only named in 1978 by Moore and Ito after Albert Lewis (Laws) Kidwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fehrite</span> Sulfate mineral

Fehrite is a hydroxyl-bearing, hydrated, copper-magnesium sulfate mineral approved by the International Mineralogical Association as a new species in 2019, and formally described in 2021 from specimens obtained from the Casualidad mine, located near Baños de Sierra Alhamilla, in Pechina (Almería), Spain, which is consequently the type locality. The name is a tribute to Karl Thomas Fehr, Professor of Mineralogy at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (Germany).

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.
  2. http://www.mindat.org/min-7131.html Mindat
  3. McCormack, J.K, and Dickson, F.W. (1998). "Kenhsuite, g-Hg3S2Cl2, a new mineral species from the McDermitt mercury deposit, Humbold County, Nevada". The Canadian Mineralogist. 36: 201–206.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Ďurovič, S (1968). "The crystal structure of γ-Hg3S2Cl2". Acta Crystallographica Section B. 24 (12): 1661–1670. doi:10.1107/S0567740868004814.
  5. Vasiliev, V.I., Palchik, N.A. and Grechishchev, O.K. (1984). "Lavrentievite and arzakite, new natural mercury sulfohalides". Geologiya I Geofizika. 25: 54–63.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. "Kenhsuite. Mindat".
  7. Viñals, Joan, and Calvo, Miguel (2007). "Corderoite, kenhsuite and perroudite, mercury sulphohalides from Chóvar (Xòvar) Castelló, Spain". Mineral up. 1: 46–49. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3939085.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)