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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Livingstonite is a mercury antimony sulfosalt mineral. It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins associated with cinnabar, stibnite, sulfur and gypsum.
| Livingstonite | |
|---|---|
Bright, steel-metallic livingstonite laths to 1.2 cm. on rich antimony (stibnite) ore. From the type locality in Huitzuco de los Figueroa. | |
| General | |
| Category | Sulfosalt mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | HgSb4S8 |
| IMA symbol | Lst[1] |
| Strunz classification | 2.HA.15 |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Space group | A2/a |
| Unit cell | a = 30.567(6), b = 4.015(1) c = 21.465(3) [Å]; β = 103.39°; Z = 8 |
| Identification | |
| Color | Blackish gray; in polished section, white; red in transmitted light, with deep red internal reflections |
| Crystal habit | As needles elongated [010], to 12 cm; also fibrous, massive, columnar, and in globular masses and interlaced needles. |
| Cleavage | Perfect on {001}, poor on {010} and {100} |
| Fracture | Uneven, flat surfaces |
| Tenacity | Flexible |
| Mohs scale hardness | 2 |
| Luster | Adamantine to metallic |
| Streak | Red |
| Diaphaneity | Opaque, translucent in thin fragments |
| Specific gravity | 4.8 – 4.88 meas. 4.98 calc. |
| Optical properties | Biaxial (–) |
| Refractive index | >= 2.72 |
| Pleochroism | Weak; strongly anisotropic |
| References | [2][3][4] |
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.[5]
Its crystal structure was determined in 1957[6] and redetermined in 1975.[7]
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