Cattierite

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Cattierite
Cattierite-654100.jpg
Raw cattierite crystals in dolomite matrix (field of view 8 mm)
General and classification
chemical formula CoS 2
Mineral class
(and possibly department) 		Sulfides and sulfosalts
System no. to Strunz
and to Dana 		2.EB.05a ( 8th edition : II / C.05)
02.12.01.03
Crystallographic Data
Crystal system cubic
Crystal class ; symbol cubic-disdodecahedral; 2 / m  3
Space group Pa 3 (No. 205)Template: room group / 205
Lattice parameters a  = 5.54  Å
Formula units Z  = 4
Physical Properties
Mohs hardness 4 to 4.5 (VHN 10  = 1018–1114)
Density (g / cm 3 ) measured: 4.82; calculated: 4.80
Cleavage completely after {001}
colour pink to gray, tobacco brown, reddish white; white on polished surfaces
Line color not defined
transparency opaque (opaque)
shine Metallic luster

Cattierite is a seldom occurring mineral from the mineral class of " sulfides and sulfosalts " with the chemical composition CoS 2 and therefore, chemically speaking, cobalt disulfide .

Cattierite crystallizes in the cubic crystal system and developed to a centimeter, cubic crystals , but is also found in the form of granular mineral aggregates and adhesions with other sulphides. The mineral is in any form opaque ( opaque ) and displays on the surfaces of pink to gray, tobacco brown or reddish white crystals have a metallic luster .

Etymology and history

Allegedly, JJ von Setterberg is said to have synthetically produced cobalt disulfide as early as 1826, although the melting and dissociation points of the synthetic product were not determined.

As a naturally occurring mineral, the compound was only discovered in 1943 in mineral samples from the Shinkolobwe mine near the city ​​of the same name in the province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then still Belgian Congo ). Its discoverer, the Belgian mineralogist Johannes Franciscus Vaes (1902–1978), worked at the time for the mining company Union Minière du Haut Katanga . He was able to discover another mineral in the Kasompi Mine on the mountain range of the same name about 70 kilometers west-southwest of Kambove .

Vaes carried out independent mineralogical studies on the two newly discovered sulphide minerals and was able to determine the chemical composition CoS 2 for the mineral from the Shinkolobwe mine and NiS 2 for the mineral from the Kasompi mine. The preliminary results of the investigation led Vaes to suspect that the minerals could belong to the pyrite group.

The two minerals were examined in the laboratories of Columbia University by Paul Francis Kerr . He was able to confirm their composition and identify them as new types of mineral. In his first description, published in 1945, he named cobalt disulfide after the then director of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga mining company Félicien Cattier . The nickel disulfide was given the name Vaesit in honor of its discoverer .

Type material for the cattierite is not documented in the “Catalog of Type Mineral Specimen” maintained by the “Commission on Museums” of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). Due to its discovery and first description before 1959, cattierite is one of the minerals that the IMA calls Grandfathered (G).

classification

Already in the outdated 8th edition of the mineral classification according to Strunz , the cattierite belonged to the mineral class of "sulfides and sulfosalts" and there to the department of "sulfides with M: S <1: 1", where it belongs together with Aurostibit , Geversit , Hauerit , Laurit , Michenerite , penroseit , pyrite , sperrylite , trogtalite , vaesite and villamanínite the "pyrite series" with the system no. II / C.05 formed.

In the Lapis mineral directory according to Stefan Weiß, which, out of consideration for private collectors and institutional collections, is still based on this old form of Karl Hugo Strunz's system , the mineral was given the system and mineral number. II / D.17-40 . In the "Lapis system" this also corresponds to the section "Sulphides with metal: S, Se, Te <1: 1", where cattierite together with Aurostibit, Changchengit , Dzharkenit , Erlichmanit , Fukuchilit , Geversit, Hauerit, Insizwait , Kruťait , Laurit, Maslovit , Mayingit , Michenerit, Padmait , Penroseite, pyrite, Sperrylith, Trogtalit, Testibiopalladit , Vaesit and Villamanínit the "pyrite group" formed (as 2018).

The 9th edition of Strunz's mineral systematics, which has been valid since 2001 and updated by the IMA until 2009, classifies cattierite in the more general section of “Metal sulfides with M: S ≤ 1: 2”. However, this is further subdivided according to the exact molar ratio and the predominant metals in the compound, so that the mineral can be found according to its composition in the subsection "M: S = 1: 2, with Fe, Co, Ni, PGE etc." where it together with Aurostibit, Dzharkenit, Erlichmanit, Fukuchilit, Gaotaiit , Geversit, Hauerit, Insizwait, Iridisit , Krutaite, Laurit, Penroseite, pyrite, Sperrylith, Trogtalit, Vaesit and Villamanínit the "pyrite group" with the system no. 2.EB.05a forms.

The systematics of minerals according to Dana , which is mainly used in the English-speaking world , assigns the cattierite to the class of "sulfides and sulfosalts" and there in the department of "sulfide minerals". Here it is also in the "pyrite group (isometric: Pa 3 )" with the system no. 02.12.01 to be found within the subsection “ Sulphides - including selenides and tellurides - with the composition A m B n X p , with (m + n): p = 1: 2 ”. Template: room group / 205

Chemism

The idealized (theoretical) composition of cattierite (CoS 2 ) consists of 47.89% cobalt (Co) and 52.11% sulfur (S). In the mineral samples from the type locality Shinkolobwe Mine, however, low contents of 3.25% nickel (Ni) and 2.80% iron (Fe) could also be detected, which replace part of the cobalt ( substitution , diadochia). This is due to a gapless mixed crystal formation between cattierite, pyrite (FeS 2 ) and vaesite (NiS 2 ).

Crystal structure

Cattierite crystallizes cubically in the pyrite structure in the space group Pa 3 (space group no. 205) with the lattice parameter a = 5.54  Å and four formula units per unit cell . Template: room group / 205

Education and Locations

Cattierite is found in carbonate rocks . It is associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and minerals of the Linnaeite - polydymite group.

As a rare mineral formation, cattierite could only be detected in a few places worldwide, whereby around 30 sites have been documented (as of 2020). Its type locality Shinkolobwe Mine is the only known site in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to date.

In Germany, the mineral has so far been found in the Clara mines near Oberwolfach, Marie in the Kohlbach near Hohensachsen and in the former Gänsberg shaft near Wiesloch in Baden-Württemberg; in the Wolfsberg mines near Iba (Bebra) and the exchange shaft near Suss (Nentershausen) in Hesse; in the ore mines Breinigerberg , Diepenlinchen and satisfaction near Stolberg in North Rhine-Westphalia; the Reich Geschiebe mine near Imsbach in Rhineland-Palatinate and Schneeberg in the Saxon Erzgebirgskreis .

The only known site in Switzerland so far is a NAGRA well near the municipality of Kaisten in the canton of Aargau.

Other sites are in China, Finland, Greece, Canada, Morocco, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary and in the US states of Colorado , Missouri and North Carolina .

See also

literature

  • Paul F. Kerr: Cattierite and vaesite: New Co-Ni minerals from the Belgian Congo . In: American Mineralogist . tape 30 , 1945, p. 483–497 (English, rruff.info [PDF; 973 kB ; accessed on March 26, 2020]).
  • J. Lynn Pratt, Peter Bayliss: Crystal-structure refinement of cattierite . In: Journal of Crystallography . tape 150 , 1979, pp. 163–167 (English, rruff.info [PDF; 192 kB ; accessed on March 26, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : Cattierite  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Hugo Strunz , Ernest H. Nickel : Strunz Mineralogical Tables. Chemical-structural Mineral Classification System . 9th edition. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Nägele and Obermiller), Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-510-65188-X , p.  103 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Malcolm Back, William D. Birch, Michel Blondieau and others: The New IMA List of Minerals - A Work in Progress - Updated: March 2020. (PDF 1729 kB) In: cnmnc.main.jp. IMA / CNMNC, Marco Pasero, March 2020, accessed March 26, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Stefan Weiss: The large Lapis mineral directory. All minerals from A - Z and their properties. Status 03/2018 . 7th, completely revised and supplemented edition. Weise, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-921656-83-9 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Cattierite . In: John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols (Eds.): Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America . 2001 (English, handbookofmineralogy.org [PDF; 63  kB ; accessed on March 26, 2020]).
  5. ^ A b Paul F. Kerr: Cattierite and vaesite: New Co-Ni minerals from the Belgian Congo . In: American Mineralogist . tape 30 , 1945, p. 483–497 (English, rruff.info [PDF; 973 kB ; accessed on March 3, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Catalog of Type Mineral Specimens - C. (PDF 131 kB) In: docs.wixstatic.com. Commission on Museums (IMA), December 12, 2018, accessed August 29, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Ernest H. Nickel, Monte C. Nichols: IMA / CNMNC List of Minerals 2009. (PDF 1816 kB) In: cnmnc.main.jp. IMA / CNMNC, January 2009, accessed March 26, 2020 .
  8. ^ David Barthelmy: Cattierite Mineral Data. In: webmineral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2020 (English).
  9. ↑ Localities for Cattierite. In: mindat.org. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed March 26, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Ludwig H. Hildebrandt: Heavy metal pollution from historical mining in the Wiesloch area. (PDF 9136 kB) State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Württemberg, 1996, p. 88 , accessed on March 26, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Find location list for cattierite in the Mineralienatlas and Mindat , accessed on March 26, 2020.