Bismite is a

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental ...

oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...

mineral,

bismuth trioxide Bismuth(III) oxide is perhaps the most industrially important compound of bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resem ...

or Bi₂O₃. It is a

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

mineral, but the typical form of occurrence is massive and clay-like with no macroscopic crystals. The color varies from green to yellow. It has a

Mohs hardness The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by th ...

of 4 to 5 and a

specific gravity Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water (molecule), wa ...

of 8.5 to 9.5, quite high for a nonmetallic mineral. Bismite is a secondary oxidation zone mineral which forms from primary bismuth minerals. It was first described from

Goldfield, Nevada Goldfield is an unincorporated community, unincorporated small desert city and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada. It is the locus of the census-designated place, Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 Unite ...

in 1868, and later from the Schneeberg District, Ore Mountains,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

References

Mindat localitiesWebmineral.com: Bismite
Bismuth minerals Oxide minerals Goldfield, Nevada Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 14 {{oxide-mineral-stub

See also

References