Hemusite

Hemusite

Hemusite from Kawazu mine, Japan at National Natural History Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
General
Category Sulfosalt minerals, Sulfides
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu6SnMoS8
Strunz classification 02.CB.35a
2/C.09-10 (8 ed)
Dana classification 2.9.6.1
Identification
Color gray
Crystal system Isometric
Mohs scale hardness 4
Luster metallic
Diaphaneity Opaque
Density 4.469
References [1][2][3][4][5]

Hemusite is a very rare isometric gray mineral containing copper, molybdenum, sulfur, and tin with chemical formula Cu6SnMoS8.[1] It was discovered by Bulgarian mineralogist Georgi Terziev in 1963. He also described it and named it after Haemus, the ancient name of Stara planina (Balkan) mountains in Europe. The type locality is Chelopech copper ore deposit, Bulgaria.[3] Later tiny deposits of hemusite were found in Ozernovskoe deposit, Kamchatka, Russia; Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda city, Chubu region, Honshu Island, Japan; Iriki mine, Iriki, Satsuma-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu Region, Japan; Kochbulak deposit, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[6] Hemusite occurs as rounded isometric grains and aggregates usually about 0.05 mm in diameter and in association with enargite, luzonite, colusite, stannoidite, renierite, tennantite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and other minerals.

References

Further reading

See also

List of minerals (complete)

Look up hemusite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.