Sulfosalt minerals are

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

with the general formula , where *A represents a

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

such as

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () 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, forming much of Earth's o ...

, and rarely mercury,

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an ...

*B usually represents

semi-metal A semimetal is a material with a small energy overlap between the bottom of the Electrical conduction, conduction Electronic band structure, band and the top of the valence band, but they do not overlap in momentum space. According to Band theory ...

such as

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element; it has 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 bismuth occurs nat ...

, and rarely

germanium Germanium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid or a nonmetal in the carbon group that is chemically ...

, or metals like

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

and rarely

*X is

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

or rarely

selenium Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...

and/or

tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element; it has symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...

. The

Strunz classification Strunz can refer to: * Claudio Strunz (born 1966), Argentine drummer * Claus Strunz (born 1966), German journalist * Thomas Strunz, (born 1968), German soccer player * Strunz classification in mineralogy * Strunz & Farah, a band {{Disambig ...

includes the sulfosalts in a ''sulfides and sulfosalts'' superclass. A group which have similar appearing formulas are the sulfarsenides (for example

cobaltite Cobaltite is an arsenide and sulfide mineral with the mineral formula Co As S. It is the naming mineral of the cobaltite group of minerals, whose members structurally resemble pyrite (FeS2). History Cobaltite was first described in 1797 by K ...

(Co,Fe)AsS). In sulfarsenides the arsenic substitutes for

sulfide Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families o ...

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...

s whereas in the sulfosalts the arsenic substitutes for a metal

cation An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

.Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut (1985). ''Manual of Mineralogy'', 20th ed., John Wiley and Sons, New York . About 200 sulfosalt minerals are known. Examples include: File:Proustite (long prismatic crystal) - Chanarcillo, Copiapo Province, Atacama Region, Chile.jpg, As illustrated by this specimen of

proustite Proustite is a sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfarsenide, Ag3 As S3, known also as ruby blende, light red silver, arsenic-silver blende or ruby silver ore, and an important source of the metal. It is closely allied to the corresponding ...

, sulfosalt minerals are often deeply colored. * type **

Pyrargyrite Pyrargyrite is a Sulfosalt minerals, sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfantimonite, Ag3SbS3. Known also as ''dark red silver ore'', ''ruby blende'', ''garnete blende'' or ''ruby silver'', it is an important source of the metal. It is clo ...

Proustite Proustite is a sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfarsenide, Ag3 As S3, known also as ruby blende, light red silver, arsenic-silver blende or ruby silver ore, and an important source of the metal. It is closely allied to the corresponding ...

Tetrahedrite Tetrahedrite is a copper antimony sulfosalt mineral with formula: . It is the antimony endmember of the continuous solid solution series with arsenic-bearing tennantite. Pure endmembers of the series are seldom if ever seen in nature. Of the two, ...

Tennantite Tennantite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral with an ideal formula . Due to variable substitution of the copper by iron and zinc the formula is . It is gray-black, steel-gray, iron-gray or black in color. A closely related mineral, tetrahed ...

* type **

Enargite Enargite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral with formula Cu3AsS4. It takes its name from the Greek word , "distinct". Enargite is a steel gray, blackish gray, to violet black mineral with metallic luster. It forms slender orthorhombic prisms a ...

** Sulvanite **

Samsonite Samsonite International S.A. is an American Baggage, luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. The company was founded in 1910 in Denver, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, U ...

Geocronite Geocronite is a mineral, a mixed Sulfosalt minerals, sulfosalt containing lead, antimony, and arsenic with a formula of Pb14(Sb, As)6S23. Geocronite is the antimony-rich endmember of a solid solution series. The arsenic-rich endmember is named jo ...

** Gratonite * type ** Bournonite ** Seligmannite **

Aikinite Aikinite is a sulfide mineral of lead, copper and bismuth with formula Pb Cu Bi S3. It forms black to grey or reddish brown acicular orthorhombic crystals with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 6.1 to 6.8. It was originally fou ...

* type ** Boulangerite ** Matildite ** Smithite ** Chalcostibite ** Emplectite ** Teallite * type ** Ramdohrite ** Jamesonite ** Cosalite * type ** Andorite ** Lindstromite * type ** Zinkenite ** Berthierite ** Cylindrite

Nickel–Strunz Classification -02- Sulfosalts

IMA IMA or Ima may refer to: Education * Indian Military Academy, Dehradun * Instituto Miguel Ángel, a school in Mexico City Galleries and museums * Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, US * Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France * Islamic Mus ...

-CNMNC proposes a new hierarchical scheme (Mills et al., 2009). This list uses the Classification of Nickel–Strunz (

mindat.org Mindat.org is a non-commercial interactive online database covering minerals around the world. Originally created by Jolyon Ralph as a private project in 1993, it was launched as a community-editable website in October 2000. it is operated by ...

, 10 ed, pending publication). *Abbreviations: **"*" – discredited (IMA/CNMNC status). **"?" – questionable/doubtful (IMA/CNMNC status). **"REE" –

Rare-earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set o ...

(Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) **"PGE" – Platinum-group element (Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt) **03.C Aluminofluorides, 06 Borates, 08 Vanadates (04.H V^{,6/sup> Vanadates), 09 Silicates:
***Neso: insular (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
νῆσος ''nēsos'', island)
***Soro: grouping (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
σωρός ''sōros'', heap, mound (especially of corn))
***Cyclo: ring (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
κύκλος ''kyklos'', wheel, ring, round)
***Ino: chain (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
ἴς enitive: ἰνός ''inos'' fibre)
***Phyllo: sheet (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
φύλλον ''phyllon'', leaf)
***Tekto: three-dimensional framework (from Greek

Greek may refer to:

Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
stem τεκτ- ''tekt-'' in words having to do with carpentry)
*Nickel–Strunz code scheme: NN.XY.##x
**NN: Nickel–Strunz mineral class number
**X: Nickel–Strunz mineral division letter
**Y: Nickel–Strunz mineral family letter
**##x: Nickel–Strunz mineral/group number, x add-on letter

Class: sulfosalts

* 02.G Sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites, sulfobismuthites
** 02.G: IMA2007-010
** 02.GA Neso-sulfarsenites, etc., without additional S: 05 Proustite

Proustite is a sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfarsenide, Ag3 As S3, known also as ruby blende, light red silver, arsenic-silver blende or ruby silver ore, and an important source of the metal. It is closely allied to the corresponding ...
, 05 Pyrargyrite

Pyrargyrite is a Sulfosalt minerals, sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfantimonite, Ag3SbS3. Known also as ''dark red silver ore'', ''ruby blende'', ''garnete blende'' or ''ruby silver'', it is an important source of the metal.

It is clo ...
; 10 Xanthoconite, 10 Pyrostilpnite; 15 Samsonite

Samsonite International S.A. is an American Baggage, luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. The company was founded in 1910 in Denver, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, U ...
; 20 Wittichenite, 20 Skinnerite, 25 Malyshevite, 25 Lisiguangite, 25 Muckeite, 25 Lapieite; 30 Aktashite, 30 Nowackiite, 30 Gruzdevite; 35 Laffittite; 40 Stalderite, 40 Routhierite; 45 Erniggliite; 50 Seligmannite, 50 Soucekite, 50 Bournonite
** 02.GB Neso-sulfarsenites, etc.: 05 Argentotennantite, 05 Giraudite, 05 Goldfieldite, 05 Freibergite

Freibergite is a complex sulfosalt mineral of silver, copper, iron, antimony and arsenic with formula . It has cubic crystals and is formed in hydrothermal deposits. It forms one solid solution series with tetrahedrite and another with argentote ...
, 05 Hakite, 05 Tennantite

Tennantite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral with an ideal formula . Due to variable substitution of the copper by iron and zinc the formula is . It is gray-black, steel-gray, iron-gray or black in color. A closely related mineral, tetrahed ...
, 05 Tetrahedrite

Tetrahedrite is a copper antimony sulfosalt mineral with formula: . It is the antimony endmember of the continuous solid solution series with arsenic-bearing tennantite. Pure endmembers of the series are seldom if ever seen in nature. Of the two, ...
; 10 Selenostephanite, 10 Stephanite; 15 Cupropearceite, 15 Selenopolybasite, 15 Cupropolybasite, 15 Polybasite, 15 Pearceite, 15 Antimonpearceite, 15 Arsenpolybasite, 20 Galkhaite
** 02.GC Poly-sulfarsenites: 05 Hatchite, 05 Wallisite; 10 Sinnerite, 15 Watanabeite, 20 Simonite, 25 Qratite, 30 Smithite, 35 Trechmannite, 40a Aleksite, 40b Kochkarite, 40c Rucklidgeite, 40c Poubaite, 40d Saddlebackite, 40e Babkinite; 45 Tvalchrelidzeite, 50 Mutnovskite
* 02.H Sulfosalts of SnS Archetype
** 02.HA With Cu, Ag, Fe (without Pb): 05 Emplectite, 05 Chalcostibite; 10 Miargyrite, 15 Livingstonite
Livingstonite is a mercury antimony sulfosalt mineral. It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins associated with cinnabar, stibnite, sulfur and gypsum.

It was first described in 1874 for an occurrence in Huitzuco de los Figueroa, Guerrer ...
; 20 Berthierite, 20 Clerite, 20 Garavellite; 25 Baumstarkite, 25 Aramayoite
** 02.HB With Cu, Ag, Hg, Fe, Sn and Pb: 05a Krupkaite, 05a Aikinite
Aikinite is a sulfide mineral of lead, copper and bismuth with formula Pb Cu Bi S3. It forms black to grey or reddish brown acicular orthorhombic crystals with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 6.1 to 6.8. It was originally fou ...
, 05a Hammarite, 05a Gladite, 05a Friedrichite, 05a Lindstromite, 05a Pekoite, 05a Paarite, 05a Emilite, 05a Salzburgite, 05b Meneghinite
Meneghinite is a sulfosalt mineral with the chemical formula CuPb13 Sb7S24.

In the orthorhombic crystal system, meneghinite has a Mohs hardness of , one perfect cleavage and a conchoidal fracture. It is a blackish lead-grey in colour and gives a b ...
, 05c Jaskolskiite; 10a Kobellite, 10a Tintinaite, 10b Giessenite, 10b Izoklakeite, 10c Eclarite; 15 Jamesonite, 15 Benavidesite; 20a Nagyagite, 20b Buckhornite, 20c Museumite, 20d Berryite, 20e Watkinsonite
** 02.HC With only Pb: 05a Sartorite, 05a Twinnite, 05a Guettardite, 05b Baumhauerite, 05b Baumhauerite-2a, 05c Liveingite, 05d Dufrenoysite, 05d Veenite, 05d Rathite, 05e Chabourneite, 05f Pierrotite, 05f Parapierrotite, 05g Marumoite; 10a Fuloppite, 10b Bismutoplagionite*, 10b Plagionite, 10c Heteromorphite, 10d Semseyite, 10d Rayite; 15 Boulangerite, 15 Falkmanite, 15 Plumosite*; 20 Robinsonite, 25 Moeloite, 30 Dadsonite, 35 Zoubekite, 35 Owyheeite
** 02.HD With Tl: 05 Lorandite, 05 Weissbergite; 15 Christite, 20 Jankovicite, 25 Rebulite, 30 Imhofite, 35 Edenharterite, 40 Jentschite, 45 Hutchinsonite

Hutchinsonite is a sulfosalt mineral of thallium, arsenic and lead with formula . Hutchinsonite is a rare hydrothermal mineral.

It was first discovered in a sample from Binnental, Switzerland, in 1903 and named after Cambridge mineralogist Ar ...
, 50 Bernardite, 55 Sicherite, 60 Gabrielite
** 02.HE With alkalies, : 05 Gerstleyite
** 02.HF With SnS and PbS archetype structure units: 20 Vrbaite; 25a Abramovite, 25a Levyclaudite, 25a Cylindrite, 25b Coiraite, 25b Incaite, 25b Potosiite, 25b Franckeite; 30 Lengenbachite
* 02.J Sulfosalts of PbS Archetype
** 02.JA Galena derivatives with little or no Pb: 05a IMA2005-036, 05a IMA2008-058, 05a Cupropavonite, 05a Pavonite, 05b Grumiplucite, 05c Kudriavite, 05d Cupromakovickyite, 05d Makovickyite, 05e Benjaminite, 05f Mummeite, 05g Borodaevite, 05h Mozgovaite; 10a Cuprobismutite, 10b Kupcikite, 10c Hodrushite, 10d Pizgrischite, 10e Paderaite; 15 Cuboargyrite, 15 Schapbachite; 20 Bohdanowiczite, 20 Matildite, 20 Volynskite
** 02.JB Galena derivatives, with Pb: 05 Diaphorite, 10 Cosalite; 15 Marrite, 15 Freieslebenite; 20 Cannizzarite, 20 Wittite; 25a Junoite, 25b Felbertalite, 25c Nordstromite, 25d Proudite, 25g Nuffieldite, 25i IMA2008-053, 25i Neyite, 25j Rouxelite; 30a Jordanite, 30a Geocronite

Geocronite is a mineral, a mixed Sulfosalt minerals, sulfosalt containing lead, antimony, and arsenic with a formula of Pb14(Sb, As)6S23. Geocronite is the antimony-rich endmember of a solid solution series. The arsenic-rich endmember is named jo ...
, 30b Kirkiite, 30c Tsugaruite; 35a Zinkenite, 35b Scainiite, 35c Pillaite, 35d Pellouxite; 40a Bursaite

Bursaite is a sulfosalt of the lillianite family. It has the formula Pb5Bi4S11 and orthorhombic structure. Bursaite is named after Bursa Province, Turkey, where it was discovered.Rasit, T. (1954-55A study on the concentration tests and beneficiat ...
?, 40a Gustavite, 40a Lillianite, 40a Xilingolite, 40a Treasurite, 40a Vikingite, 40a Fizelyite, 40a Andorite, 40a Roshchinite, 40a Uchucchacuaite, 40a Ramdohrite, 40b Aschamalmite, 40b Eskimoite, 40b Heyrovskyite, 40c Ourayite, 40d Schirmerite, 40e Ustarasite; 45 Angelaite, 45 Galenobismutite, 45 Weibullite; 55 Gratonite, 60 Marrucciite, 65 Vurroite
** 02.JC Galena derivatives, with Tl: 05 Ellisite, 10 Gillulyite
* 02.K Sulfarsenates, Sulfantimonates
** 02.KA Sulfarsenates with tetrahedra: 05 Enargite

Enargite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral with formula Cu3AsS4. It takes its name from the Greek word , "distinct". Enargite is a steel gray, blackish gray, to violet black mineral with metallic luster. It forms slender orthorhombic prisms a ...
, 05 Stibioenargite*, 05 Petrukite; 10 Briartite, 10 Famatinite, 10 Luzonite, 10 Permingeatite, 10 Barquillite; 15 Fangite
** 02.KB Sulfarsenates with additional S: 05 Billingsleyite
* 02.L Unclassified Sulfosalts
** 02.LA Without essential Pb: 10 Dervillite, 15 Daomanite*, 20 Vaughanite, 25 Criddleite, 30 Fettelite, 35 Chameanite, 40 Arcubisite, 45 Mgriite, 50 Benleonardite, 55 Tsnigriite, 60 Borovskite, 65 Jonassonite
** 02.LB With essential Pb: 05 Miharaite, 20 Ardaite

Ardaite is a very rare sulfosalt mineral with chemical formula Pb19Sb13S35Cl7 in the monoclinic crystal system, named after the Arda River (Maritsa), Arda River, which passes through the type locality. It was discovered in 1978 and approved by th ...
, 30 Madocite, 35 Larosite; 40 Petrovicite, 40 Mazzettiite; 45 Crerarite, 50 Launayite, 55 Playfairite, 60 Sorbyite, 65 Sterryite
* 02.M
** 02.MA Oxysulfosalts of Alkalies and Alkali Earths: 05 Ottensite, 05 Cetineite; 10 Sarabauite
* 02.X Unclassified Strunz Sulfosalts
** 02.XX Unknown: 00 Tazieffite, 00 Horobetsuite*, 00 Kitaibelite?, 00 Parajamesonite?, 00 Sakharovaite?, 00 Volfsonite*

Synthetic sulfosalts

Many sulfosalts can be prepared in the laboratory, including many that do not occur in nature.Sheldrick, William S.; Wachhold, Michael "Chalcogenidometalates of the heavier Group 14 and 15 elements" Coordination Chemistry Reviews 1998, vol. 176, 211–322.

References

* Mozgova N.N. (2000). ''Sulfosalt mineralogy today''. In: ''Modern Approaches to Ore and Environmental Mineralogy'', MSF Mini-Symposium Espoo Finland, June 11–17, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20050907172937/http://www.igem.ru/igem/mine/sulfosalts.htm Retrieved July 22, 2005.
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{{Strunz}