Nickel minerals

thumb|Pentlandite in pyrrhotite, ore specimen from the [[Sudbury Basin (field of view 3.4 cm)|300x300px]] Pentlandite is an iron–nickel sulfide with the chemical formula . Pentlandite has a narrow variation range in nickel to iron ratios (Ni:Fe), but it is usually described as 1:1. In some cases, this ratio is skewed by the presence of pyrrhotite inclusions. It also contains minor cobalt, usually at low levels as a fraction of weight.

Nickeline or niccolite is the mineral form of nickel arsenide. The naturally occurring mineral contains roughly 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic by mass, but composition of the mineral may vary slightly.

rock concretion on the sea bottom made of layers of iron/manganese hydroxides

Millerite or nickel blende is a nickel sulfide mineral, NiS. It is brassy in colour and has an acicular habit, often forming radiating masses and furry aggregates. It can be distinguished from pentlandite by crystal habit, its duller colour, and general lack of association with pyrite or pyrrhotite.

Abelsonite is a nickel porphyrin mineral with chemical formula C31H32N4Ni. It was discovered in 1969 in the U.S. State of Utah and described in 1975. The mineral is named after geochemist Philip H. Abelson. It is the only known crystalline geoporphyrin.

thumb|Garnierite

Kamacite is an alloy of iron and nickel, which is found on Earth only in meteorites. According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) it is considered a proper nickel-rich variety of the mineral native iron. The proportion iron:nickel is between 90%:10% and 95%:5%; small quantities of other elements, such as cobalt or carbon may also be present. The mineral has a metallic luster, is gray and has no clear cleavage although its crystal structure is isometric-hexoctahedral. Its density is about 8 g/cm3 and its hardness is 4 on the Mohs scale. It is also sometimes called balkene

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 white forms. Gersdorffite belongs to a solid solution series with cobaltite, CoAsS. Antimony freely substitutes also leading to ullmannite, NiSbS. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 5.9 to 6.33.

Annabergite is an arsenate mineral consisting of a hydrous nickel arsenate. It is considered a member of the vivianite group and known for its ability to form crystals in a characteristic apple-green color.

thumb|right|200px|Widmanstätten pattern showing the two forms of Nickel-Iron, Kamacite and Taenite, in an octahedrite meteorite Taenite is a mineral found naturally on Earth mostly in iron meteorites. It is an alloy of iron and nickel, with a chemical formula of and nickel proportions of 20% up to 65%.

Schreibersite is generally a rare iron nickel phosphide mineral, , though common in iron-nickel meteorites. It has been found on Disko Island in Greenland and Illinois.

Bunsenite is the naturally occurring form of nickel(II) oxide, NiO. It occurs as rare dark green crystal coatings. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system and occurs as well formed cubic, octahedral and dodecahedral crystals. It is a member of the periclase group.

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 solution series exists with the high cobalt willyamite.

Trevorite is a rare nickel iron oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. It has the chemical formula NiFe3+2O4. It is a black mineral with the typical spinel properties of crystallising in the cubic system, black streaked, infusible and insoluble in most acids.

Ahlfeldite () is a mineral of secondary origin. It is named after Friedrich Ahlfeld (1892–1982), a German-Bolivian mining engineer and geologist. Its type locality is Virgen de Surumi mine, Pakajake Canyon, Chayanta Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia.

Vaesite (NiS2) is a mineral found together with cattierite in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is named after Johannes F. Vaes, a Belgian mineralogist. It is part of the pyrite group.

Braggite is a sulfide mineral of platinum, palladium and nickel with chemical formula: (Pt, Pd, Ni)S. It is a dense (specific gravity of 10), steel grey, opaque mineral which crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system. It is the central member in the platinum group end-members cooperite and vysotskite.

sulfide mineral

Rammelsbergite is a nickel arsenide mineral with formula NiAs2. It forms metallic silvery to tin white to reddish orthorhombic prismatic crystals, and is usually massive in form. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 7.1.

Heazlewoodite, Ni3S2, is a rare sulfur-poor nickel sulfide mineral found in serpentinitized dunite. It occurs as disseminations and masses of opaque, metallic light bronze to brassy yellow grains which crystallize in the trigonal crystal system. It has a hardness of 4, a specific gravity of 5.82. Heazlewoodite was first described in 1896 from Heazlewood, Tasmania, Australia.

Breithauptite is a nickel antimonide mineral with the simple formula NiSb. Breithauptite is a metallic opaque copper-red mineral crystallizing in the hexagonal - dihexagonal dipyramidal crystal system. It is typically massive to reniform in habit, but is observed as tabular crystals. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4 and a specific gravity of 8.23.

Zaratite is a bright emerald green nickel carbonate mineral with formula Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O. Zaratite crystallizes in the isometric crystal system as massive to mammillary encrustations and vein fillings. It has a specific gravity of 2.6 and a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5. It has no cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture. The luster is vitreous to greasy.

Gaspéite, a very rare nickel carbonate mineral, with the formula , is named for the place it was first described, in the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec, Canada.

Melonite is a telluride of nickel; it is a metallic mineral. Its chemical formula is NiTe2. It is opaque and white to reddish-white in color, oxidizing in air to a brown tarnish.

Aerugite is a rare complex nickel arsenate mineral with a variably reported formula: Ni9(AsO4)2AsO6. It forms green to deep blue-green trigonal crystals. It has a Mohs hardness of 4 and a specific gravity of 5.85 to 5.95.

Népouite is a rare nickel silicate mineral which has the apple green color typical of such compounds. It was named by the French mining engineer Edouard Glasser in 1907 after the place where it was first described (the type locality), the Népoui Mine, , Poya Commune, North Province, New Caledonia. The ideal formula is , but most specimens contain some magnesium, and is more realistic. There is a similar mineral called lizardite (named after the Lizard Complex in Cornwall, England) in which all of the nickel is replaced by magnesium, formula . These two minerals form a series; intermediate comp

Oregonite, Ni2FeAs2 is a nickel iron arsenide mineral first described from Josephine Creek, Oregon, United States.

Maucherite is a grey to reddish silver white nickel arsenide mineral. It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system. It occurs in hydrothermal veins alongside other nickel arsenide and sulfide minerals. It is metallic and opaque with a hardness of 5 and a specific gravity of 7.83. It is also known as placodine and Temiskamite. The unit cell is of symmetry group P41212 or P43212.

Xanthiosite is a nickel arsenate mineral. It was first discovered in Germany in 1858 and named by Gilbert Joseph Adam in 1869.

Allabogdanite is a very rare phosphide mineral with the chemical formula , found in 1994 in a meteorite. It was described for an occurrence in the Onello meteorite in the Onello River basin, Sakha Republic; Yakutia, Russia; associated with taenite, schreibersite, kamacite, graphite and awaruite. It was named for Russian geologist Alla Bogdanova.

Violarite (Fe2+Ni23+S4) is a supergene sulfide mineral associated with the weathering and oxidation of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide ore minerals.

Talnakhite is a mineral of chalcopyrite group with formula: Cu9(Fe, Ni)8S16. It was named after the Talnakh ore deposit, near Norilsk in Western Siberia, Russia where it was discovered as reported in 1963 by I. Budko and E. Kulagov. It was officially named "talnakhite" in 1968. Despite the initial announcement it turned out to be not a face centered high-temperature polymorph of chalcopyrite, but to have composition Cu18(Fe, Ni)18S32. At to it decomposes to tetragonal cubanite plus bornite.

thumb|Smaltite - Schneeberg Germany

Polydymite, Ni2+Ni23+S4, is a supergene thiospinel sulfide mineral associated with the weathering of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide.

Bonaccordite is a rare mineral discovered in 1974. Its chemical formula is Ni2FeBO5 and it is a mineral of the ludwigite group. It usually crystallizes in long, cylindrical prisms that form within another source. It is named after the area of Bon Accord, where it was first found. There have also been findings of bonaccordite within nuclear plants at multiple companies. It builds up a deposit within the machines and is a very hard mineral to clean out because it is resistant to ordinary techniques.

Haxonite is an iron nickel carbide mineral found in iron meteorites and carbonaceous chondrites. It has a chemical formula of , crystallises in the cubic crystal system and has a Mohs hardness of - 6.

Alvanite (IMA symbol: Alv) is a zinc nickel aluminium vanadate mineral with the chemical formula O. It was originally discovered in the Karatau Mountains.

Penroseite is a rare selenide mineral with formula (Ni,Co,Cu)Se2. It has a gray-steel color and black streak with a hardness of 3. It is an isometric mineral, 2/m. Penroseite was first discovered in 1925 in a Bolivian rhyolite. It was named for Richard Penrose (1863–1931), an economic geologist.

Tyrrellite is a selenide mineral that has a chemical formula of . It has been found in the Goldfields District in northern Saskatchewan, as well as in the Petrovice deposit, Czech Republic. It is named after the Canadian geologist Joseph Burr Tyrrell. Joseph Tyrrell was one of the first geologists from the Geological Survey of Canada to do research in the Goldfields District.

Falcondoite, a member of the sepiolite group, was first discovered in the Dominican Republic, near the town of Bonao. The mineral was found in a deposit mined by Falconbridge Dominica, and so was named "falcondoite" after the company. Falcondoite is frequently associated with sepiolite, garnierite, talc, and serpentine, and is commonly nickel-bearing. While the chemical formula for falcondoite can vary, the mineral must contain more nickel than magnesium to be considered its own species. The ideal chemical formula for falcondoite is (Ni,Mg)4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O.

Pecoraite is a nickel silicate mineral and a member of the serpentine group. It was named after geologist William Thomas Pecora. It is monoclinic and has a chemical composition of . It is associated with the weathering-and-or oxidation of meteorites or nickel sulfide minerals such as millerite. It is also found in altered ultramafic rocks. Pecoraite is typically a green, lime green, or bluegreen mineral with a waxy, or earthy luster and a mohs hardness of 2.5. Common textural habits associated with pecoraite are curved plates, spirals and tubes. It can also be granular and massive.

Kambaldaite, NaNi4(CO3)3(OH)3·3H2O, is an extremely rare hydrated sodium nickel carbonate mineral described from gossaniferous material associated with Kambalda type komatiitic nickel ore deposits at Kambalda, Western Australia, and Widgie Townsite nickel gossan, Widgiemooltha, Western Australia.

Widgiemoolthalite is a rare hydrated nickel(II) carbonate mineral with the chemical formula . Usually bluish-green in color, it is a brittle mineral formed during the weathering of nickel sulfide. Present on gaspéite surfaces, widgiemoolthalite has a Mohs scale hardness of 3.5 and an unknown though likely disordered crystal structure. Widgiemoolthalite was first discovered in 1992 in Widgiemooltha, Western Australia, which is to date its only known source. It was named the following year by the three researchers who first reported its existence, Ernest H. Nickel, Bruce W. Robinson, and William

Shandite is a sulfide mineral with chemical formula: Ni3Pb2S2. It was discovered in 1948 by the German mineralogist Paul Raumdohr who named it named after Scottish petrologist, Samuel James Shand (1882–1957). Ramdohr characterized shandite by its metallic luster and a brass-yellow color. It has a specific gravity of 8.92, and a Mohs hardness value of 4. Shandite is commonly found as an inclusion in other minerals such as Heazelwoodite Ni3S2 or serpentine.

Jamborite is a hexagonal-trigonal, green, mineral consisting of nickel, cobalt, hydroxides and sulphur. Its discovery was first published in 1973.

Hellyerite, NiCO3·6(H2O), is a hydrated nickel carbonate mineral. It is light blue to bright green in colour, has a hardness of 2.5, a vitreous luster, a white streak and crystallises in the monoclinic system. The crystal habit is as platy and mammillary encrustations on its matrix. It is a pentahydrate according to X-ray crystallography. The solid consists of [Ni2(CO3)2(H2O)8] subunits with an extra pair of water of hydration.

Set index articles (minerals with the same trivial name)

Roaldite is a rare meteorite mineral containing iron, nickel and nitrogen. Its chemical formula is .

Perryite is a nickel silicide mineral. It is found in extremely silicon-rich meteorites. The type material is housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. It was first found in Horse Creek and described in 1963 by Fredriksson and Wickman. It was named after Stuart Hoffman Perry, an American meteorite collector. The mineral is typically found intermixed with troilite, an iron sulfide. It is a minor constituent of metal enstatite chondrite meteorites.

Fletcherite is a rare thiospinel sulfide mineral with formula . It is an opaque metallic steel gray mineral which crystallizes in the cubic crystal system. It is a member of the linnaeite group.

Krutovite is a cubic nickel diarsenide with a chemical composition of NiAs2 and a sulfur content of 0.02-0.34 weight percent. Krutovite is composed of nickel and arsenic with trace to minor amounts of cobalt, iron, copper, sulfur, and antimony.

Otwayite, Ni2CO3(OH)2, is a hydrated nickel carbonate mineral. Otwayite is green, with a hardness of 4, a specific gravity of 3.4, and crystallises in the orthorhombic system.

Pimelite was discredited as a mineral species by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) in 2006, in an article which suggests that "pimelite" specimens are probably willemseite (which is approved), or kerolite (which is also discredited). This was a mass discreditation, and not based on any re-examination of the type material (assuming any exists). Nevertheless, a considerable number of papers have been written, verifying that pimelite is a nickel-dominant smectite. It is always possible to redefine a mineral wrongly discredited.

Nickelblödite is a rare nickel sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Ni(SO4)2·4H2O. Nickelblödite was discovered in nickel mines in Carr Boyd Rocks and Kambalda, Western Australia. The mineral is a nickel-analogue of blödite, changoite, cobaltoblödite and manganoblödite - other representatives of the blödite group.

Jolliffeite is a rare selenide mineral with formula NiAsSe or . It is the selenium analogue of the sulfide mineral gersdorffite, NiAsS, with a common impurity of cobalt, CoAsSe. It is named for its discoverer, Alfred Jolliffe, (1907–1988), a Canadian geologist of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

Garutiite is a rare mineral and is in the platinum group alloys. It's also part of the osmium group. It was discovered in the Loma Peguera deposit, Falcondo Mines, Bonao, Monseñor Nouel Province, Dominican Republic in 2009. It was named in honor of Giorgio Garuti (born 1945), professor at the University of Leoben, Austria, in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of the mineralogy of platinum-group elements.

Antitaenite is a meteoritic metal alloy mineral composed of iron (Fe) and 20–40% nickel (Ni), (and traces of other elements) that has a face centered cubic crystal structure.