Kermesite or

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...

oxysulfide is also known as red antimony (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 Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula Sb2 S3. 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 ...

(Sb₂S₃) and other antimony oxides such as

valentinite Valentinite is an antimony oxide mineral with formula Sb2 O3. 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 shad ...

(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.

Mining and specimens

Deposits of this mineral have been found all over the world, however notable deposits have been found in Braunsdorf, near

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

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 ...

; Pernek, Pezinok, and Pribram,

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; the Lac Nicolet mine, South Ham Township, Wolfe County,

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; Sombrerete,

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; Santa Cruz and San Francisco mines, Poopo, Oruro,

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; Que Que,

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; Djebel Haminate,

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;

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

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; Mohave,

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and Burke,

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History and uses

Kermesite is named after a formerly used red dye,

kermes (dye) Kermes is a red dye derived from the dried bodies of the females of a scale insect in the genus '' Kermes'', primarily ''Kermes vermilio''. The ''Kermes'' insects are native in the Mediterranean region and are parasites living on the sap of the ...

, 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.''A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles'' (year 1901)
Kermesite or red antimony has been used as early as the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

’s 6th Dynasty in ancient

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

(c. 2345–2181

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

) in lip cosmetics and in the 18th Dynasty

Queen Hatshepsut Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...

(Maatkare) (1498–1483 BCE) negotiated with the

Land of Punt The Land of Punt ( Egyptian: '' pwnt''; alternate Egyptological readings ''Pwene''(''t'') /pu:nt/) was an ancient kingdom known from Ancient Egyptian trade records. It produced and exported gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory an ...

for its colored antimony deposits. Besides

, which was used for eye liner red, antimony is one of the oldest minerals used in cosmetics. Further archaeological evidence indicates that

levels were higher in ancient

ian 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 Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. 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.

References

* Bencze, Koloman. “Antimony” pp. 227–235. Handbook on Metals in Clinical and Analytical Chemistry (ed.) Hans G Seiler (1994) * Sneader, Walter. Drug Discovery: A History (2005).

External links

Mineral Gallery
{{Commons category Oxide minerals Sulfide minerals Antimony minerals Triclinic minerals Minerals in space group 2 Land of Punt Hatshepsut