Altaite

Discovered in 1845; IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered)

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

PbTe

Lead Telluride

Molecular Weight:

334.80 gm

Composition:

Tellurium

38.11 %

Te

Lead

61.89 %

Pb

100.00 %

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Sulfides and Sulfosalts

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

2/C.15-60

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

2.CD.10

2 : SULFIDES and SULFOSALTS (sulfides, selenides, tellurides; arsenides, antimonides, bismuthides; sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites, sulfbismuthites, etc.)
C : Metal Sulfides, M: S = 1: 1 (and similar)
D : With Sn, Pb, Hg, etc.

Related to:

Galena Group.

Members of Group:

Galena Group: Alabandite, Altaite, Clausthalite, Galena, Niningerite, Oldhamite 

Varieties:

None

Synonyms:

Elasmose (of d'Halloy), Lead telluride

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Isometric - Hexoctahedral

Crystal Habit:

Rarely in very small cubes and octahedra; massive, as cleavages, to 1 cm; granular, myrmekitic in other sulfides.

Twinning:

None

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

Perfect on {001}

Fracture:

Sub-Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Sectile

Mohs Hardness:

3.0; Vickers: VHN₁₀₀=47-53 kg/mm²

Density:

8.19 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Tin-white with yellowish tint, tarnishes bronze; in polished section, white with a delicate greenish hue

Transparency:

Opaque

Luster:

Metallic

Refractive Index:

R: (400) 59.6, (420) 62.6, (440) 65.2, (460) 67.5, (480) 69.3, (500) 70.6, (520) 71.2, (540) 71.1, (560) 70.1, (580) 68.7, (600) 66.8, (620) 65.1, (640) 63.4, (660) 61.9, (680) 60.6, (700) 59.4

Birefringence:

0.000 (opaque)

Dispersion:

None

Pleochroism:

None

Anisotropism:

None

Occurances

Geological Setting:

Typically in hydrothermal vein Au–Te-bearing deposits.

Common Associations:

Gold, Silver, Antimony, Tellurium, Tellurantimony, Galena, Pyrite, Hessite, Nagyágite, Tetrahedrite, Sylvanite, Petzite, Calaverite, Arsenopyrite, Sphalerite, Chalcopyrite, Jamesonite, Boulangerite, Bournonite, Aguilarite, Pyrrhotite, Siderite, Cerussite, Quartz

Common Impurities:

Ag, Au, Cu, Fe, Se, S

Type Locality:

Second Zavodinskii Mine (Second Sawodinsk Mine), Zyryanovsk Rayon, Altai Mts (Rudnyi Altai), Eastern Kazakhstan Province (Shyghys Qazaqstan Oblysy; Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast'), Kazakhstan

Year Discovered:

1845

View mineral photos:

Altaite Mineral Photos and Locations

Unusual Gem Categories

Metallic Gems

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Altaite is a rare member of the Galena Group of minerals that also includes Alabandite, Clausthalite and Galena. Altaite is a lead telluride mineral that is opaque with metallic luster and color of tin-white with yellowish tint that may tarnish to bronze. Altaite is often found with Galena which it shares the same structure and other properties. Altaite has a greater density than Galena however. The two minerals are found together in sulfide vein ore bodies. Altaite is also associated with Gold and Silver and several Gold and Silver sulfides and tellurides. The picture above shows bright metallic silvery veins of Altaite in a Quartz matrix from the Mattagami Lake mine, Matagami, Nord-du-Québec, Québec, Canada.  

Altaite is named after the Altai Mountains at the discovery locality at the Second Zavodinskii Mine, Zavodinsk Rayon Altai Mountains, Eastern Kazakhstan Province, Kazakhstan.

Altaite distribution: occurrences are too numerous to fully list. Selected localities are: in the Zavodinskii mine, near Ziryanovsk, Altai Mountains, Kazakhstan [TL], hundreds of kg. At the Bereznyakov gold deposit, Southern Ural Mountains, Russia. From Sãcãrîmb (Nagyág), Sacarîmb, Romania. At Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. In the Fiji Islands, in the Tuvatu Au–Ag–Te deposit, Viti Levu. From the Bulawan deposit, Negros Occidental, Phillipines. At several mines in the Kirkland Lake area, Ontario, Canada. In the USA, in the Foote mine, Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina; the Red Cloud mine, Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colorado; the Mayflower mine, Tobacco Root Mountains, Madison County, Montana; the Hilltop mine, near Las Cruces, Do˜na Ana County, New Mexico; the Stanislaus mine, Carson Hill district, Calaveras County, California; and the Minnamax Cu–Ni–sulfide deposit, Duluth Gabbro complex, near Hibbing, St. Louis County, Minnesota. From the San Francisco mine, 145 km north of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

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