Nickeline (Niccolite)

Discovery year unknown, as early a 1694;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered)

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

NiAs

Nickel Arsenide

Molecular Weight:

133.61 gm

Composition:

Nickel

43.93 %

Ni

Arsenic

56.07 %

O

100.00 %

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Sulfides

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

2/C.20-20

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

2.CC.05

2 : SULFIDES and SULFOSALTS (sulfides, selenides, tellurides; arsenides, antimonides, bismuthides; sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites, sulfbismuthites, etc.)
C : Metal Sulfides, M: S = 1: 1 (and similar)
C : With Ni, Fe, Co, PGE, etc.

Related to:

Nickeline Group.

Members of Group:

Nickeline Group: Achavalite, Breithauptite, Freboldite, Langisite, Nickeline

Varieties:

None

Synonyms:

Arsenical Nickel, Arsennickel, Copper Nickel, Kupfernickel, Kupfernicker, Kupfernikkel, Nickelite, Niccolite, Nicolite, Rotnickelkies

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Hexagonal - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal

Crystal Habit:

Commonly in granular aggregates, reniform masses with radial structure, and reticulated and arborescent growths. Rarely as distorted, horizontally striated, {1011} terminated crystals, to 1.5 cm.

Twinning:

On {1011} producing fourlings; possibly on {3141}.

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

None

Fracture:

Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.0 - 5.5

Density:

7.784 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Pale copper-red, tarnishes gray to blackish; white with strong yellowish pink hue in reflected light.

Transparency:

Opaque

Luster:

Metallic

Refractive Index:

R1–R2: (400) 39.2–45.4, (420) 38.0–44.2, (440) 36.8–43.5, (460) 36.2–43.2, (480) 37.2–44.3, (500) 39.6–46.4, (520) 42.3–48.6, (540) 45.3–50.7, (560) 48.2–52.8, (580) 51.0–54.8, (600) 53.7–56.7, (620) 55.9–58.4, (640) 57.8–59.9, (660) 59.4–61.3, (680) 61.0–62.5, (700) 62.2–63.6

Birefringence:

None, opaque

Dispersion:

Weak to Strong; r > v

Pleochroism:

Strong; whitish yellow-pink to light brownish pink

Anisotropism:

Very Strong; light greenish yellow to slate-gray. Color in reflected light: white with strong yellowish pink hue.

Occurances

Geological Setting:

A minor component of Ni–Cu ores in high-temperature hydrothermal veins; massive and in disseminations in peridotite and norite.

Common Associations:

Skutterudite–Nickel-Skutterudite, Safflorite, Rammelsbergite, Gersdorffite, Maucherite, Breithauptite, Michenerite, Bismuth, Bismuthinite.

Common Impurities:

Sb, Fe, Co, S

Type Locality:

Unknown, possibly Germany

Year Discovered:

Unknown; as early as 1694

View mineral photos:

Nickeline Mineral Photos and Locations

Unusual Gem Categories

Metallic Gems

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Nickeline is an opaque, pale copper-red, metallic nickel arsenide mineral that is a member of the Nickeline Group of minerals. Nickeline is an unusal but very beautiful gem with its bright, metallic luster and peachy red to pale copper red colors. Nickeline alters to Annabergite, a coating of green nickel arsenate, on exposure to moist air.

Nickeline was originally named kupfernickel in 1694 by Swedish chemist, geologist, physician and writer Urban Hjärne (1641-1724) from the German words meaning copper nickel, referring to its pale copper colors and nickel content. Nickel was named after Old Nick, a mischievious and deceptive spirit of German mythology, because the ore seemed to contain copper because of its color, but yielded none. Kupfernickel was renamed Nickeline in 1832 by French mineralogist and geologist François Sulpice Beudant (1787-1850) for its nickel content. It was also renamed Niccolite by American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist James Dwight Dana (1813-1895) in 1868 from the Latin word niccolum meaning nickel. Nickeline is the IMA recognized name.

Nickeline distribution: in Germany, from Eisleben and Mansfeld, Saxony-Anhalt; at St. Andreasberg, Harz Mountains; from Schneeberg, Saxony; crystallized at Richelsdorf, Hesse-Nassau. From Schladming, Austria. At Jáchymov (Joachimsthal), Czech Republic. From the Chalanches mine, near Allemont, Isère, France. In the USA, at Silver Cliff, Custer County, and in the Gem mine, Fremont County, Colorado. In Ontario, Canada, from the Cobalt–Gowganda and Sudbury districts, and at Silver Islet, Thunder Bay district. At Cochabamba, Bolivia. From the Aït Ahmane mine, 10 km east of Bou Azzer, Morocco. In the Talmessi mine, 35 km west of Anarak, Iran. At the Ban Phuc Ni–Cu deposit, northwestern Vietnam. Many additional occurrences have been noted.

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