Galena, Pyrite and Sphalerite

ID	285
Mineral	Galena Pyrite Sphalerite
Location	Unknown - Unknown - Unknown - Unknown
Fluorescence	LW-UV: close SW-UV: close
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ID	1641
Long ID	1:1:1641:0
Formula	`PbS`
IMA Status	0 1
Industrial	Principal ore of lead. Often contains silver and is a frequent ore of that metal as well.
Diapheny	Opaque
Cleavage	{001}
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	Lead-grey
Hardness (min)	2.5
Hardness (max)	2.5
Luminescence	None
Lustre	Metallic
About the name	Named by Pliny the Elder in 77-79 from the Greek "galene" meaning "lead ore".
Streak	Lead-grey
Crystal System	Isometric
Cleavage Type	Perfect
Fracture type	Sub-Conchoidal
Morphology	Cubes, octahedrons, cube-octahedron combinations and rarely dodecahedrons. Rarely, platy twins.
Twinning	Spinel-type {111}, lamellar {114}
UV	Not fluorescent in UV.
Thermal Behaviour	In an open tube, gives sulfurous fumes.
key_elements	0
shortcode_ima	Gn
Group	Galena Group

ID	3314
Long ID	1:1:3314:1
Formula	`FeS₂`
IMA Status	0 1
Other Occurrences	Common in many rock types, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.
Diapheny	Opaque
Cleavage	Indistinct on {001}.
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	Pale brass-yellow
Hardness (min)	6.0
Hardness (max)	6.5
About the name	Named in antiquity from the Greek "pyr" for "fire", because sparks flew from it when struck with another mineral or metal. Known to Dioscorides (~50 CE) under the name "περι υληζ ιατρικηζ" which included both pyrite and chalcopyrite.
Streak	Greenish-black
Crystal System	Isometric
Cleavage Type	Poor/Indistinct
Fracture type	Irregular/Uneven,Conchoidal
Morphology	Typically cubic or pyritohedral (pentagonal dodecahedral), sometimes octahedral and combinations are common, resulting in striated faces. Less frequently octahedral, most commonly massive, granular, and sometimes radiating, reniform, discoidal or globular.
Twinning	On [110], interpenetrating ('Iron Cross Law'). Twin axis [001] and twin plane {011}, penetration and contact twins. Twinning on (111) was described by Nicol (1904), Goldschmidt and Nicol (1904) and Gaubert (1928), all of whom considered it rare.
UV	Not fluorescent in UV
Thermal Behaviour	Heated in a closed tube gives a sublimate of sulfur and a magnetic residue.
shortcode_ima	Py
Group	Pyrite Group

ID	3727
Long ID	1:1:3727:9
Formula	`ZnS`
IMA Status	0 1
Discovery Year	1847
Diapheny	Transparent,Translucent
Cleavage	Perfect {011}
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	Yellow, light to dark brown, black, red-brown, colourless, light blue. green
Hardness (min)	3.5
Hardness (max)	4.0
Luminescence	Fluorescent and triboluminescent
Lustre	Resinous
About the name	Originally called blende in 1546 by Georgius Agricola (Georg Bauer). Known by a variety of chemical-based names subsequent to Agricola and before Glocker, including "zincum". Named Sphalerite in 1847 by Ernst Friedrich Glocker from the Greek σφαλεροζ "sphaleros" = treacherous, in allusion to the ease with which dark varieties were mistaken for galena, but yielded no lead.
Streak	Pale yellow to brown.
Crystal System	Isometric
Cleavage Type	Perfect
Fracture type	Conchoidal
Twinning	{111}
UV	Light colored sphalerite may fluoresce in blue or orange in LW. Fluoresces less strongly, sometimes not at all, in SW or MW.
key_elements	0
shortcode_ima	Sp
Group	Sphalerite Group

Price: € 5

Dimensions: Not registered

Weight: 66 g

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