Kermesite

Last updated
Kermesite
Mineraly.sk - kermezit.jpg
General
CategoryOxysulfide
Formula
(repeating unit)
(Sb2S2O)
IMA symbol Kem [1]
Strunz classification 2.FD.05
Dana classification 02.13.01.01
Crystal system Triclinic
Crystal class Pinacoidal (1)
(same H-M symbol)
Space group P1
Identification
ColorRed to cherry red, purple
Crystal habit Acicular, fibrous, radial
Cleavage Perfect {100}, parting on {010}
Fracture Brittle
Tenacity Sectile
Mohs scale hardness1–2
Luster Adamantine to semimetallic
Streak Brownish red
Diaphaneity Translucent, Opaque
Specific gravity 4.5–4.8+
Optical propertiesBiaxial (+)
Refractive index nα = 2.720 nβ = 2.740 nγ = 2.740
Pleochroism None
References [2] [3] [4]

Kermesite or antimony oxysulfide is also known as red antimony or purpur blende (Sb2S2O) . The mineral's color ranges from cherry red to a dark red to a black. Kermesite is the result of partial oxidation between stibnite (Sb2S3) and other antimony oxides such as valentinite (Sb2O3) or stibiconite (Sb3O6(OH)). Under certain conditions with oxygenated fluids the transformation of all sulfur to oxygen would occur but kermesite occurs when that transformation is halted.

Contents

Mining and specimens

Lustrous, acicular, deep wine-red kermesite crystals, up to 4 cm long, on massive sulfide matrix, from Pezinok, Male Karpaty Mts, Bratislava Region, Slovakia Kermesite-223878.jpg
Lustrous, acicular, deep wine-red kermesite crystals, up to 4 cm long, on massive sulfide matrix, from Pezinok, Malé Karpaty Mts, Bratislava Region, Slovakia

Deposits of this mineral have been found all over the world, however notable deposits have been found in Braunsdorf, near Freiberg, Saxony, Germany; Pernek, Pezinok, and Pribram, Czechoslovakia; the Lac Nicolet mine, South Ham Township, Wolfe County, Quebec, Canada; Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico; Santa Cruz and San Francisco mines, Poopo, Oruro, Bolivia; Que Que, Zimbabwe; Djebel Haminate, Algeria; Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia; Mohave, Kern County, California and Burke, Shoshone County, Idaho. [2] [5]

History and uses

Kermesite is named after a formerly used red dye, kermes (dye), and was so named because of the grainy reddish color the mineral often has. The name dates from 1832. Earlier in English (17th and 18th centuries) certain antimony compounds were called "kermes mineral" for the same reason. [6]

Kermesite or red antimony has been used as early as the Old Kingdom’s 6th Dynasty in ancient Egypt (c. 2345–2181 BCE) in lip cosmetics and in the 18th Dynasty Queen Hatshepsut (Maatkare) (1498–1483 BCE) negotiated with the Land of Punt for its colored antimony deposits. Besides stibnite, which was used for eye liner red, antimony is one of the oldest minerals used in cosmetics. Further archaeological evidence indicates that antimony levels were higher in ancient Egyptian female remains which had exposure to both antimony compounds (Bencze, 1994). Because of its color, the precipitate of kermesite was used as a coloring agent and in alchemy. Because of alchemy’s focus on material transformation as evidenced by color, red antimony was used to produce the red state. Kermesite is the mineral state for Kermes mineral which was used extensively in the medical field for centuries

Presently, kermesite is collected for the beauty of its crystal metallic structure and not used in either cosmetics or the medical field any longer due to the toxic effects that it shares with antimony; less harmful substitutes have been found using both organic and pharmaceutical production.

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.

Kermes may refer to :

<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">Galena</span> Natural mineral form of lead sulfide

Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azurite</span> Copper carbonate mineral

Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carbonate with the chemical formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name kuanos (κυανός: "deep blue," root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum. Copper (Cu2+) gives it its blue color.

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

Cuprite is an oxide mineral composed of copper(I) oxide Cu2O, and is a minor ore of copper.

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

Valentinite is an antimony oxide mineral with formula Sb2O3. Valentinite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and typically forms as radiating clusters of euhedral crystals or as fibrous masses. It is colorless to white with occasional shades or tints of yellow and red. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and a specific gravity of 5.76. Valentinite occurs as a weathering product of stibnite and other antimony minerals. It is dimorphous with the isometric antimony oxide senarmontite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alunite</span> Aluminium potassium sulfate mineral

Alunite is a hydroxylated aluminium potassium sulfate mineral, formula KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6. It was first observed in the 15th century at Tolfa, near Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum. First called aluminilite by J.C. Delamétherie in 1797, this name was contracted by François Beudant three decades later to alunite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adamite</span> Zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral

Adamite is a zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral, Zn2AsO4OH. It is a mineral that typically occurs in the oxidized or weathered zone above zinc ore occurrences. Pure adamite is colorless, but usually it possess yellow color due to Fe compounds admixture. Tints of green also occur and are connected with copper substitutions in the mineral structure. Olivenite is a copper arsenate that is isostructural with adamite and there is considerable substitution between zinc and copper resulting in an intermediate called cuproadamite. Zincolivenite is a recently discovered mineral being an intermediate mineral with formula CuZn(AsO4)(OH). Manganese, cobalt, and nickel also substitute in the structure. An analogous zinc phosphate, tarbuttite, is known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournonite</span> Sulfosalt mineral species

Bournonite or antimonbleikupferblende is a sulfosalt mineral species, trithioantimoniate of lead and copper with the formula PbCuSbS3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamesonite</span> Sulfosalt mineral

Jamesonite is a sulfosalt mineral, a lead, iron, antimony sulfide with formula Pb4FeSb6S14. With the addition of manganese it forms a series with benavidesite. It is a dark grey metallic mineral which forms acicular prismatic monoclinic crystals. It is soft with a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and has a specific gravity of 5.5 – 5.6. It is one of the few sulfide minerals to form fibrous or needle like crystals. It can also form large prismatic crystals similar to stibnite with which it can be associated. It is usually found in low to moderate temperature hydrothermal deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorándite</span> Thallium arsenic sulfosalt

Lorándite is a thallium arsenic sulfosalt with the chemical formula: TlAsS2. Though rare, it is the most common thallium-bearing mineral. Lorandite occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal associations and in gold and mercury ore deposits. Associated minerals include stibnite, realgar, orpiment, cinnabar, vrbaite, greigite, marcasite, pyrite, tetrahedrite, antimonian sphalerite, arsenic and barite.

Kermes mineral or Alkermes mineral was a compound of antimony oxides and sulfides, more specifically, antimony trioxide and trisulfide. It can be made or obtained in the laboratory by the actions of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) on antimony sulfide. The compound is reddish brown in color and described as a velvety powder which is insoluble in water. It was used extensively in the medical field until the general use of antimony compounds declined due to toxic effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native metal</span> Form of metal

A native metal is any metal that is found pure in its metallic form in nature. Metals that can be found as native deposits singly or in alloys include aluminium, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, indium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, and zinc, as well as the gold group and the platinum group. Among the alloys found in native state have been brass, bronze, pewter, German silver, osmiridium, electrum, white gold, silver-mercury amalgam, and gold-mercury amalgam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cervantite</span> Antimony oxide mineral

Cervantite is an antimony oxide mineral with formula Sb3+Sb5+O4 (antimony tetroxide).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stibiconite</span> Antimony oxide mineral

Stibiconite is an antimony oxide mineral with formula: Sb3O6(OH). Its name originates from Greek stíbi (στίβι), 'antimony' and kónis (κόνις), 'powder', alluding to its composition and habit. It is a member of the pyrochlore super group.

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

Sarabauite (sar-a-bau'-ite) is a red monoclinic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula: CaSb10O10S6.

Guettardite is a rare arsenic-antimony lead sulfosalt mineral with the chemical formula Pb(Sb,As)2S4. It forms gray black metallic prismatic to acicular crystals with monoclinic symmetry. It is a dimorph of the triclinic twinnite.

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

Pyrophanite is a manganese titanium oxide mineral with formula: MnTiO3. It is a member of the ilmenite group. It is a deep red to greenish black mineral which crystallizes in the trigonal system.

Peretaite is a sulfate of antimony and calcium. The mineral, Ca(SbO)4(SO4)2(OH)2 (2(H2O)), was named Peretaite for its locality. It was first discovered in an antimony-bearing vein at Pereta, Tuscany, Italy.

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. 1 2 http://www.handbookofmineralogy.com/pdfs/kermesite.pdf Archived 2021-07-12 at the Wayback Machine Handbook of Mineralogy
  3. http://webmineral.com/data/Kermesite.shtml Webmineral data
  4. http://www.mindat.org/min-2187.html Mindat
  5. Palache, C., H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) Dana's System of Mineralogy, Wiley, 7th ed., v. I, pp. 279–280
  6. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (year 1901).