The thiospinel group is a group of

sulfide minerals The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) or disulfide (S22−) as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, the ...

with a general formula where A is nominally a +2 metal, B is a +3 metal and X is -2 sulfide or similar anion (selenide or telluride). ''Thio'' refers to sulfur and ''spinel'' indicates their isometric

spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , which means ''spine'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Properties S ...

-like structure.Thiospinel group on Mindat
/ref> As the

chalcogen The chalcogens (ore forming) ( ) are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the radioact ...

s S, Se and Te are less

electronegative Electronegativity, symbolized as , is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the d ...

than oxygen, the bonding in these materials is generally more

covalent A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms ...

than in the oxospinels. Some are (

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

)

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

s but others display, at times complicated,

metallic Metallic may be a reference to: *Metal * Metalloid, metal-like substance *Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding * Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object *Metallic color, a color that ...

behavior, often coupled with equally complicated magnetic properties. The assignment of

oxidation state In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical charge of an atom if all of its bonds to different atoms were fully ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound. C ...

s is also not always as straightforward as in the more ionic oxocompounds, as is shown in the case of

carrollite Carrollite, CuCo2S4, is a sulfide of copper and cobalt, often with substantial substitution of nickel for the metal ions, and a member of the linnaeite group. It is named after the type locality in Carroll County, Maryland, US, at the Patapsco m ...

. Group members include: *

Cadmoindite Cadmoindite (CdIn2S4) is a rare cadmium indium sulfide mineral discovered in Siberia around the vent of a high-temperature (450–600 °C) fumarole at the Kudriavy volcano, Iturup Island in the Kuril Islands. It has also been reported from the ...

– *

Carrollite Carrollite, CuCo2S4, is a sulfide of copper and cobalt, often with substantial substitution of nickel for the metal ions, and a member of the linnaeite group. It is named after the type locality in Carroll County, Maryland, US, at the Patapsco m ...

– * Fletcherite – *

Greigite Greigite is an iron sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the sulfur equivalent of the iron oxide magnetite (Fe3O4). It was first described in 1964 for an occurrence in San Bernardino County, California, and named after the mineralogis ...

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Indite Indite is an extremely rare indium-iron sulfide mineral, found in Siberia. Its chemical formula is FeIn2S4. It occurs as replacement of cassiterite in hydrothermal deposits. It is associated with dzhalindite, cassiterite and quartz. It was firs ...

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Kalininite Kalininite ( Zn Cr2 S4) is a thiospinel mineral found in Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its interna ...

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Linnaeite Linnaeite is a cobalt sulfide mineral with the composition Co+2Co+32S4. It was discovered in 1845 in Västmanland, Sweden, and was named to honor Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Linnaeite forms a series with polydymite Polydymite, Ni2+Ni23+S4, is ...

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Polydymite Polydymite, Ni2+Ni23+S4, is a supergene thiospinel sulfide mineral associated with the weathering of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide. Polydymite crystallises in the isometric system, with a hardness of 4.5 to 5.5 and a specific gravity of ab ...

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Siegenite Siegenite (also called grimmite, or nickel cobalt sulfide) is a ternary transition metal dichalcogenide compound with the chemical formula (Ni,Co)3S4. It has been actively studied as a promising material system for electrodes in electrochemical en ...

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Tyrrellite Tyrrellite is a selenide mineral that has a chemical formula of . It has been found in the Goldfields District in northern Saskatchewan, as well as in the Petrovice deposit, Czech Republic. It is named after the Canadian geologist Joseph Burr Ty ...

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Violarite Violarite ( Fe2+ Ni23+ S4) is a supergene sulfide mineral associated with the weathering and oxidation of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide ore minerals. Violarite crystallises in the isometric system, with a hardness of 4.5 to 5.5 and a speci ...

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References

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