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Seafloor Massive Sulfide Deposits
Seafloor massive sulfide deposits or SMS deposits, are modern equivalents of ancient volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits or VMS deposits. The term has been coined by mineral explorers to differentiate the modern deposit from the ancient. SMS deposits were first recognized during the exploration of the deep oceans and the mid ocean ridge spreading centers in the early 1960s. Deep ocean research submersibles, bathyspheres and remote operated vehicles have visited and taken samples of black smoker chimneys, and it has been long recognised that such chimneys contain appreciable grades of Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Au and other trace metals. SMS deposits form in the deep ocean around submarine volcanic arcs, where hydrothermal vents exhale sulfide-rich mineralising fluids into the ocean. SMS deposits are laterally extensive and consist of a central vent mound around the area where the hydrothermal circulation exits, with a wide apron of unconsolidated sulfide silt or ooze which ...
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Magic Mountain Metallic Sulfide Ore
Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as stage magic, the art of appearing to perform supernatural feats * Magical thinking, the belief that unrelated events are causally connected, particularly as a result of supernatural effects Magic or magick may also refer to: Art and entertainment Film and television * ''Magic'' (1917 film), a silent Hungarian drama * ''Magic'' (1978 film), an American horror film * ''Magic'', a 1983 Taiwanese film starring Wen Chao-yu * Magic (TV channel), a British music television station Literature * Magic in fiction, the genre of fiction that uses supernatural elements as a theme * '' Magic: A Fantastic Comedy'', a 1913 play by G. K. Chesterton * ''Magic'' (short story collection), a 1996 short story collection by Isaac Asimov * ''Magic'' ...
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Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a Mohs scale, hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its Streak (mineralogy), streak is diagnostic as green-tinged black. On exposure to air, chalcopyrite tarnishes to a variety of oxides, hydroxides, and sulfates. Associated copper minerals include the sulfides bornite (Cu5FeS4), chalcocite (Cu2S), covellite (CuS), digenite (Cu9S5); carbonates such as malachite and azurite, and rarely oxides such as cuprite (Cu2O). It is rarely found in association with native copper. Chalcopyrite is a conductor of electricity. Copper can be extracted from chalcopyrite ore using various methods. The two predominant methods are pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, the former being the most commercially viable. Etymology The name chalcopyrite comes from the Greek words , which means cop ...
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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 arsenides, the antimonides, the bismuthinides, the sulfarsenides and the sulfosalts.http://www.minerals.net/mineral/sort-met.hod/group/sulfgrp.htm Minerals.net Dana Classification, SulfidesKlein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., 1986, ''Manual of Mineralogy'', Wiley, 20th ed., pp 269-293 Sulfide minerals are inorganic compounds. Minerals Common or important examples include: * Acanthite * Chalcocite * Bornite *Galena *Sphalerite *Chalcopyrite *Pyrrhotite * Millerite *Pentlandite * Covellite *Cinnabar * Realgar *Orpiment * Stibnite *Pyrite * Marcasite * Molybdenite Sulfarsenides: * Cobaltite * Arsenopyrite * Gersdorffite Sulfosalts: * Pyrargyrite * Proustite * Tetrahedrite * Tennantite * Enargite * B ...
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Stannite
Stannite is a mineral, a sulfide of copper, iron, and tin, in the category of thiostannates. Background The chemical formula is Cu2 Fe Sn S4. Zinc commonly occurs with the iron and trace germanium may be present. Stannite is used as an ore of tin, consisting of approximately 28% tin, 13% iron, 30% copper, 30% sulfur by mass. It is found in tin-bearing, hydrothermal vein deposits occurring with chalcopyrite, sphalerite, tetrahedrite, arsenopyrite, pyrite, cassiterite, and wolframite. It is also known as ''bell metal ore'' as tin is an important constituent of bell metal. It is thought the exploitation of tin deposits in Cornwall led to an expansion in bell founding. The name comes from the Latin for tin: ''stannum''. It was first described in 1797 for an occurrence in Wheal Rock, St. Agnes, Cornwall, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers abou ...
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Wurtzite
Wurtzite is a zinc and iron sulfide mineral with the chemical formula , a less frequently encountered Polymorphism (materials science), structural polymorph form of sphalerite. The iron content is variable up to eight percent.Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), ''The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana,'' Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged, pp. 226-228. It is trimorphous with matraite and sphalerite. It occurs in hydrothermal deposits associated with sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, barite and marcasite. It also occurs in low-temperature clay-ironstone concretions. It was first described in 1861 for an occurrence in the San José Mine, Oruro, Bolivia, Oruro City, Cercado Province (Oruro), Cercado Province, Oruro Department, Bolivia, and named for French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz. It has widespread distribution ...
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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 closely allied to, and isomorphous with, the corresponding sulfarsenide known as proustite or light red silver ore. Ruby silver or red silver ore (German ''Rotgültigerz'') was mentioned by Georg Agricola in 1546, but the two species so closely resemble one another that they were not completely distinguished until chemical analyses of both were made. Both crystallize in the ditrigonal pyramidal (hemimorphic-hemihedral) class of the rhombohedral lattice system, rhombohedral system, possessing the same degree of symmetry as tourmaline. Crystals are perfectly developed and are usually prismatic in habit; they are frequently attached at one end, the hemimorphic character being then evident by the fact that the oblique striations on the prism face ...
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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 sulfantimonide, pyrargyrite, from which it was distinguished by the chemical analyses of Joseph L. Proust (1754–1826) in 1804, after whom the mineral received its name. The prismatic crystals are often terminated by the scalenohedron and the obtuse rhombohedron, thus resembling calcite (dog-tooth-spar) in habit. The color is scarlet-vermilion and the luster adamantine; crystals are transparent and very brilliant, but on exposure to light they soon become dull black and opaque. The streak is scarlet, the hardness 2 to 2.5, and the specific gravity 5.57. Its transparency differs from specimen to specimen, but most are opaque or translucent. Proustite occurs in hydrothermal deposits as a phase in the oxidized and supergene zone. It ...
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Orpiment
Orpiment, also known as ″yellow arsenic blende″ is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and may be formed through sublimation (phase transition), sublimation. Orpiment takes its name from the Latin ''auripigmentum'' (''aurum'', "gold" + ''pigmentum'', "pigment"), due to its deep-yellow color. Orpiment once was widely used in artworks, medicine, and other applications. Because of its toxicity and instability, its usage has declined. Etymology The Latin ''auripigmentum'' (''aurum'', "gold" + ''pigmentum'', "pigment") referred both to its deep-yellow color and to the historical belief that it was thought to contain gold. The Latin term was used by Pliny the Elder, Pliny in the first century CE. The Greek for orpiment was ''arsenikon'', deriving from the Greek word ''arsenikos'', meaning "male", from the belief that metals were of different sexes. This Greek te ...
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Realgar
Realgar ( ), also known as arsenic blende, ruby sulphur or ruby of arsenic, is an arsenic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula α-. It is a soft, sectile mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, or in granular, compact, or powdery form, often in association with the related mineral, orpiment (). It is orange-red in color, melts at 320 °C, and burns with a bluish flame releasing fumes of arsenic and sulfur. Realgar is soft with a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2 and has a specific gravity of 3.5. Its streak is orange colored. It is trimorphous with pararealgar and bonazziite. Etymology Its name comes from the Arabic ''rahj al-ġār'' ( , "powder of the mine"), via Medieval Latin, and its earliest record in English is in the 1390s. Uses Realgar is a minor ore of arsenic extracted in China, Peru, and the Philippines. Historical uses Realgar was used by firework manufacturers to create the color white in fireworks prior to the availability of powdered metals such as al ...
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Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called "white iron pyrite", is iron sulfide (FeS2) with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures contain the disulfide S22− ion, having a short bonding distance between the sulfur atoms. The structures differ in how these di-anions are arranged around the Fe2+ cations. Marcasite is lighter and more brittle than pyrite. Specimens of marcasite often crumble and break up due to the unstable crystal structure. On fresh surfaces, it is pale yellow to almost white and has a bright metallic luster. It tarnishes to a yellowish or brownish color and gives a black streak. It is a brittle material that cannot be scratched with a knife. The thin, flat, tabular crystals, when joined in groups, are called "cockscombs". In the late medieval and early modern eras, the word "marcasite" meant all iron sulfides in general, including b ...
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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, tetrahedrite ) has antimony substituting for arsenic and the two form a solid solution series. The two have very similar properties and is often difficult to distinguish between tennantite and tetrahedrite. Iron, zinc, and silver substitute up to about 15% for the copper site. The mineral was first described for an occurrence in Cornwall, England in 1819, where it occurs as small crystals of cubic or dodecahedral form, and was named after the English chemist Smithson Tennant (1761–1815). It is found in hydrothermal veins and contact metamorphic deposits in association with other Cu–Pb–Zn–Ag sulfides and sulfosalts, pyrite, calcite, dolomite, siderite, barite, fluorite and quartz. The arsenic component of tennantite causes the metal ...
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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, the antimony rich phase is more common. Other elements also substitute in the structure, most notably iron and zinc, along with less common silver, mercury and lead. Bismuth also substitutes for the antimony site and ''bismuthian tetrahedrite'' or ''annivite'' is a recognized variety. The related, silver dominant, mineral species freibergite, although rare, is notable in that it can contain up to 18% silver. Mineralogy Tetrahedrite gets its name from the distinctive tetrahedron shaped cubic crystals. The mineral usually occurs in massive form, it is a steel gray to black metallic mineral with Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4 and specific gravity of 4.6 to 5.2. Tetrahedrite occurs in low to moderate temperature hydrothermal veins and in some c ...
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