Native antimony is a mineral belonging to the group of native elements, with properties equivalent to those of the antimony element obtained by processing its ores. The name comes from the Latin ''antimonium''. For centuries, the term ''antimony'' was also used to refer to

stibnite Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral, a mineral form of antimony trisulfide ( Sb2 S3). It is a soft, metallic grey crystalline solid with an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid an ...

or antimonite, the most common mineral containing this element, from which it was typically extracted. In mineralogy, the official name is simply antimony, although, as with other native elements, it is often referred to as native antimony to avoid ambiguity. It is unclear where native antimony was first discovered, although the Sala silver mine in Västmanland, Sweden, is considered the type locality.

Properties

The fundamental component is

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 ...

itself, and it is usually very pure, although it may contain traces of other elements, especially arsenic, bismuth, iron, or silver. It is part of the native arsenic group, which also includes arsenolamprite (a polymorph of

native arsenic Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

native bismuth Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

, and the compounds stibarsen, pararasenolamprite, and paradocrasite. It has the same physical and chemical properties as the artificial product, but the natural mineral, when coarsely crystalline, is characterized by its perfect cleavage.

Occurrence

On a microscopic scale, native antimony is quite widespread in sulfide mineralizations containing this element. On a macroscopic scale, it is much rarer. Pseudocubic crystals have been found in the Consols mine in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

, New South Wales (Australia), and the Lake George mine in York County, New Brunswick (Canada). In the Sala silver mine, in Västmanland, Sweden, it is found as coarsely crystalline masses within calcite. In the Matilde mine in La Viñuela, Málaga (Spain), coarsely crystalline masses with large cleavage planes are also found, forming an important part of the exploited ore, which is exceptional. In Arechuybo, Chihuahua (Mexico), it appears in a granular form.{{Cite book , last=Antony, J.W., Bideaux, R.A., Bladh, K.W. y Nichols, M.C. , title=Handbook of Mineralogy Vol I. Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts. , publisher=Mineral Data Publishing , year=1990 , pages=16 It is associated with

, kermesite, valentinite, and senarmontite.

References

Antimony minerals Native element minerals