The sulfarsenide minerals are a subgroup of the

sulfide mineral 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 selenide mineral, selenides, the tell ...

s which include

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

replacing sulfur as an

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...

in the formula.Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, 1985, ''Manual of Mineralogy,'' 20th ed., John Wiley and Sons, New York, p. 290

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 ...

and

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element; it has symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs nat ...

may occur with or in place of the arsenic as in

ullmannite Ullmannite or ''Nickel glance'' (trivial name) is a nickel antimony sulfide mineral with formula: NiSbS. Considerable substitution occurs with cobalt and iron in the nickel site along with bismuth and arsenic in the antimony site. A solid soluti ...

. The chemical formula of a sulfarsenide looks like a

sulfosalt Sulfosalt minerals are sulfide minerals with the general formula , where *A represents a metal such as copper, lead, silver, iron, and rarely mercury, zinc, vanadium *B usually represents semi-metal such as arsenic, antimony, bismuth, and rarely ...

, however the structures are distinctly different. In sulfosalts the arsenic replaces a metal ion. The sulfarsenides are grouped with the

sulfides Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families of ...

in both the Dana and Strunz mineral classification systems. Examples include:Palache, C., H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) ''Dana’s system of mineralogy,'' (7th edition), v. I, p. 296 *Arsenopyrite group: **

Arsenopyrite Arsenopyrite ( IMA symbol: Apy) is an iron arsenic sulfide (FeAsS). It is a hard ( Mohs 5.5–6) metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases el ...

Glaucodot Glaucodot is a cobalt iron arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . The cobalt:iron(II) ratio is typically 3:1 with minor nickel substituting. It forms a series with arsenopyrite . It is an opaque grey to tin-white typically found as massive forms ...

** Gudmundite **

Lautite Lautite is a rare mineral belonging to the class of sulfides and sulfosalts with the general formula CuAsS. It is orthorhombic and is known to form up to 2.3 cm long prismatic or flat crystals. It is also found as grains or masses. First ide ...

** Alloclasite *Cobaltite group **

Cobaltite Cobaltite is an arsenide and sulfide mineral with the mineral formula Co As S. It is the naming mineral of the cobaltite group of minerals, whose members structurally resemble pyrite (FeS2). History Cobaltite was first described in 1797 by K ...

Gersdorffite Gersdorffite or ''Nickel glance'' (trivial name) is a nickel arsenic sulfide mineral with formula NiAsS. It crystallizes in the isometric system showing diploidal symmetry. It occurs as euhedral to massive opaque, metallic grey-black to silver w ...

Ullmannite Ullmannite or ''Nickel glance'' (trivial name) is a nickel antimony sulfide mineral with formula: NiSbS. Considerable substitution occurs with cobalt and iron in the nickel site along with bismuth and arsenic in the antimony site. A solid soluti ...

References

Sulfide minerals {{sulfide-mineral-stub