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Canfieldite

infos

main description

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Canfieldite is a silver and tin sulphide, being formed in the lastest stages of polymetallic veins formation.

The crystals are pseudo-octahedral. They are gray-black in colour, opaque and show a metallic lustre. One finds canfieldite associated with other silver-bearing species such as acanthite.

The district of Bisbee in Arizona and the county of Lander in Nevada are US deposits where canfieldite was discovered. Exceptional crystals were found in the Potosi district in Mexico.

In France, this species is present in the deposits of Huelgoat in Finistere and Massiac in the Cantal.

The place of conservation of the type of this species is not known.

Identity card

HISTORY : Species dedicated Frederick Alexander Canfield (1849-1926), American mining engineer and collector

Species first described in 1893 by Samuel Lewis Penfield (1856-1906), professor in mineralogy at the University of Yale (USA)

Type-locality: Avilargus, la Paz, Bolivia

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ag8 Sn S6
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombic
COLOR : Steel gray, reddish
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque
LUSTER : Metallic
STREAK : Black-gray
MORPHOLOGIE : Crystals showing pseudo-octahedra and dodecahedra combinations
HARDNESS : 2,5
CHEMICAL CLASS: 6,311

DENSITY : II - Sulfides, arsenides, antimonides and selenides
GROUP : Argyrodite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 2/B.08-20
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 2.BA.45
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