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| Sperrylite was first described by H. H. Wells in 1889 from material collected at the Vermilion mine,
Sudbury district, Ontario, Canada. He named it for Francis
L. Sperry, chief chemist with the Canadian Copper Company of Sudbury, who collected the original material in 1887.
| Discovered
in 1889; IMA
status:
Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered) |
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Composition: |
Arsenic |
43.44 % |
As |
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Platinum |
56.56 % |
Pt |
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100.00 % |
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Classification
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Mineral
Classification: |
Sulfides
and Sulfosalts
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Strunz 8th
Ed. ID:
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2/D.17-120
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Nickel-Strunz 10th
Ed. ID:
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2.EB.05a
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2 : SULFIDES and SULFOSALTS (sulfides, selenides, tellurides; arsenides,
antimonides, bismuthides; sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites,
sulfbismuthites, etc.) E : Metal Sulfides, M: S <= 1:2 B : M:S = 1:2, with Fe, Co, Ni, PGE, etc.
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Related
to: |
Pyrite
Group.
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Members
of Group: |
Pyrite
Group: Aurostibite, Cattierite, Dzharkenite, Erlichmanite,
Fukuchilite, Pyrite, Sperrylite
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Varieties: |
None
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Synonyms: |
ICSD 38428,
PDF 42-1341
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Crystal
Data
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Crystallography:
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Isometric - Diploidal
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Crystal
Habit:
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Commonly
well crystallized as cubes and cubo-octahedrons, to
5 cm; may be highly modified with rounded edges and
corners; as intergrowths with Pt–Fe alloys.
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Twinning:
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None
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Physical
Properties
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Cleavage: |
Indistinct
on {001}
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Fracture: |
Conchoidal
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Tenacity:
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Brittle
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Moh's
Hardness: |
6.0
- 7.0; Vickers: VHN100=960 - 1277 kg/mm2
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Density:
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10.58 (g/cm3)
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Luminescence:
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None
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Radioactivity:
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Not
Radioactive
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Optical
Properties
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Color: |
Tin-white
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Transparency: |
Opaque
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Luster: |
Metallic
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Refractive
Index: |
Isotropic.
R: (400) 53.6, (420) 53.6, (440) 53.9, (460) 53.9, (480)
53.9, (500) 53.9, (520) 54.0, (540) 53.9, (560) 53.8,
(580) 53.7, (600) 53.5, (620) 53.1, (640) 52.7, (660)
52.3, (680) 51.9, (700) 51.4
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Birefringence: |
0.000
(Isotropic)
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Dispersion: |
n/a |
Pleochroism: |
n/a |
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Occurances
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Geological
Setting: |
Platinum
deposits. The most widespread Platinum mineral, occurring
in every type of deposit.
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Common
Associations: |
Pyrrhotite,
Pentlandite, Chalcopyrite, Violarite, Cubanite, Bornite,
Sphalerite, Galena, Linnaeite, Magnetite, Testibiopalladite,
Sudburyite, Omeiite, Gold, Argentian Gold (Danba, China);
Leadamalgam, Chromite, Ilmenite, Magnetite, Gersdorffite,
Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, Violarite, Millerite, Galena,
Stibnite, Argentian Gold, Niggliite, Iridosmine, Platinum,
Merenskyite, Kotulskite (Shiaonanshan, China); also
Cooperite, Laurite.
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Common
Impurities: |
Ir,
Rh, Fe, Cu, Sb
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Type
Locality: |
Vermilion Mine, Denison Township, Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada
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Year
Discovered: |
1889
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View
mineral photos: |
Sperrylite
Mineral Photos and Locations |
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More
Information
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Mindat.org
Webmineral.com
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Sperrylite was first described by H. H. Wells in 1889 from material collected at the Vermilion mine in what is now the Sudbury
district, Ontario, Canada. He named it for Francis L.
Sperry, chief chemist with the Canadian Copper Company of Sudbury, who collected the original material in 1887 (Mitchell 1985).
Sperrylite is a platinum arsenide mineral and is an important ore of Platinum.
In fact, other than native Platinum, Sperrylite is the only Platinum ore of any significance.
Sperrylite is found in abundance only at Sudbury, Ontario, Canada where it is mined for its
valuable Platinum content.
Sperrylite belongs
to the Pyrite Group of minerals. Sperrylite and Pyrite share
a similar structure and therefore similar crystal habits.
Other than crystal shapes, they do not look alike though
because Pyrite is a brassy yellow and Sperrylite is
tin-white in color. Sperrylite gems are extremely rare
and valuable. Faceted gems are very attractive with
their high metallic luster.
Locations:
In Canada, at the Vermilion [TL - Type Locality], Victoria,
and Frood mines, Algoma district, near Sudbury, Ontario.
In the USA, at the New Rambler Cu–Ni mine, Medicine
Bow Mountains, east of Encampment, Albany County, Wyoming;
in the Key West mine, east of Moapa, Bunkerville district,
Clark County, Nevada; and from the Stillwater complex,
Montana. In the Bushveld complex, on the Merensky reef,
Transvaal, South Africa, fine crystals from the Tweefontein
Farm, near Potgietersrus; also at the Atok, Onverwacht,
and Rustenburg mines. From Antamponbato, Madagascar.
In China, from Danba, Sichuan Province; and Shiaonanshan,
Inner Mongolia. In Australia, at several deposits east
of Broken Hill, New South Wales, and at Kambalda, 56
km south of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. In Russia,
large crystals from the Talnakh area, Noril’sk region,
and at Nikolaevsky, Amur, Siberia; in the Konder massif,
Aldan Shield, Sakha; and elsewhere. In Finland, at Rometölväs
Hill, in the Koillismaa complex; from the Hitura Cu–Ni
deposit; and in the Siikakama intrusion.
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Sperrylite
gems for sale:
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have not photographed our Sperrylite gems yet. Please
check back soon.
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