Jordanite is a
sulfosalt mineral
Sulfosalt minerals are sulfide minerals with the general formula , where
*A represents a metal such as copper, lead, silver, iron, and rarely mercury, zinc, vanadium
*B usually represents semi-metal such as arsenic, antimony, bismuth, and rarely ...
with chemical formula in the
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 ...
crystal system
In crystallography, a crystal system is a set of point groups (a group of geometric symmetries with at least one fixed point). A lattice system is a set of Bravais lattices. Space groups are classified into crystal systems according to their poin ...
,
[Mindat information page for Jordanite]
/ref> named after the German scientist H. Jordan (1808–1887) who discovered it in 1864.
Lead-grey in colour (frequently displaying an iridescent tarnish), its streak is black and its lustre is metallic. Jordanite has a hardness of 3 on Mohs scale
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 ...
, has a density of approximately 6.4, and a conchoidal fracture.
The type locality is the Lengenbach Quarry
The Lengenbach Quarry is located in the Binn Valley (Valais, Switzerland) and it is noted among the mineralogical community for its unusual sulfosalt mineral specimens.
The dolomite hosted deposit of the quarry is in the Binn Valley, a small ...
in the Binn
Binn (Walser German: ''Bìi'') is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
The Binn Valley is known for its rich mineral deposits, some types of which are unique to the area. The notable Lengenbach Quar ...
Valley, Wallis, Switzerland.
References
Sulfosalt minerals
Lead minerals
Monoclinic minerals
Minerals in space group 11
Arsenic minerals
Antimony minerals
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