Safflorite is a rare

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

arsenide mineral An arsenide mineral is a mineral that contains arsenide as its main anion. Arsenides are grouped with the sulfides in both the Dana and Strunz mineral classification systems. Examples * algodonite * domeykite * löllingite * nickeline * ramm ...

with the chemical formula . ''Pure'' safflorite is , but iron is virtually always present. Safflorite is a member of the three-way substitution series of arsenides known as the loellingite or loellingite group. More than fifty percent

makes the mineral loellingite whereas more than fifty percent

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

and the mineral is

rammelsbergite Rammelsbergite is a nickel arsenide mineral with formula NiAs2. It forms metallic silvery to tin white to reddish orthorhombic prismatic crystals, and is usually massive in form. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 7.1. It was ...

. A parallel series of

antimonide mineral An antimonide mineral is a mineral that contains antimonide for its main anion. The antimonides are structurally similar to the sulfides and are grouped with them in both the Dana and Strunz mineral classification systems. Examples include: * Bre ...

s exist. Safflorite along with the other minerals crystallize in the

orthorhombic In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Orthorhombic lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, resulting in a rectangular prism with a r ...

system forming opaque gray to white massive to radiating forms, Clinosafflorite has a monoclinic symmetry. 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 4.5 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 6.9 to 7.3. Twinning is common and star shaped twins are frequently found. Safflorite-Lollingite-Rammelsbergite-55551

It was first described in 1835 from the Schneeberg District, Erzgebirge,

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 ...

. Safflorite occurs with other arsenide minerals as an accessory in

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

districts. It alters to the arsenate

erythrite Erythrite or red cobalt is a secondary hydrated cobalt arsenate mineral with the formula . Erythrite and annabergite, chemical formula , or nickel arsenate form a complete series with the general formula . Erythrite crystallizes in the monoclin ...

in the secondary environment.

References

Minerals.net
* {{Refend Cobalt minerals Iron minerals Arsenide minerals Orthorhombic minerals Minerals in space group 58