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livingstonite

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Livingstonite is a mercury antimony sulfosalt mineral. It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins associated with cinnabar, stibnite, sulfur and gypsum.

Key facts

Mineral.name
Livingstonite
Mineral.category
Sulfosalt mineral
Mineral.image
File:Livingstonite (GeoDIL number - 1195).jpg
Mineral.caption
Livingstonite from Guerrero, Mexico
Mineral.formula
HgSb4S8
Mineral.IMAsymbol
Lst
Mineral.strunz
2.HA.15
Mineral.system
Monoclinic
Mineral.class
Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Mineral.symmetry
A2/a
Mineral.unit cell
a = 30.567(6), b = 4.015(1) c = 21.465(3) [Å]; β = 103.39°; Z = 8
Mineral.color
Blackish gray; in polished section, white; red in transmitted light, with deep red internal reflections
Mineral.habit
As needles elongated [010], to 12 cm; also fibrous, massive, columnar, and in globular masses and interlaced needles.
Mineral.cleavage
Perfect on {001}, poor on {010} and {100}
Mineral.fracture
Uneven, flat surfaces
Mineral.tenacity
Flexible
Mineral.mohs
2
Mineral.luster
Adamantine to metallic

via Wikipedia infobox

~2 min read

Encyclopedic overview

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{{Infobox mineral | name = Livingstonite | category = Sulfosalt mineral | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = File:Livingstonite (GeoDIL number - 1195).jpg | imagesize = | caption = Livingstonite from Guerrero, Mexico | formula = HgSb4S8 | IMAsymbol = Lst | molweight = | strunz = 2.HA.15 | system = Monoclinic | class = Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) | symmetry = A2/a | unit cell = a = 30.567(6), b = 4.015(1) c = 21.465(3) [Å]; β = 103.39°; Z = 8 | color = Blackish gray; in polished section, white; red in transmitted light, with deep red internal reflections | habit = As needles elongated [010], to 12 cm; also fibrous, massive, columnar, and in globular masses and interlaced needles. | twinning = | cleavage = Perfect on {001}, poor on {010} and {100} | fracture = Uneven, flat surfaces | tenacity = Flexible | mohs = 2 | luster = Adamantine to metallic | refractive = >= 2.72 | opticalprop = Biaxial (–) | birefringence = | pleochroism = Weak; strongly anisotropic | streak = Red | gravity = 4.8 – 4.88 meas. 4.98 calc. | density = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | diaphaneity = Opaque, translucent in thin fragments | other = | references = }} Livingstonite is a mercury antimony sulfosalt mineral. It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins associated with cinnabar, stibnite, sulfur and gypsum.

It was first described in 1874 for an occurrence in Huitzuco de los Figueroa, Guerrero, Mexico. It was named to honor Scottish explorer of Africa, David Livingstone.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “livingstonite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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