Name/Title
StibniteEntry/Object ID
2009.62.208Description
Description: Common Name: Stibnite
Group Name: Sulfides
Chemistry: Sb2 S3 Antimony Sulfide
Location: Leng Sui Jiang, Hunan province, China
Description: Large grey rock with metalic looking crystals pertruding off of it. If you look at it from a certain angle it looks like a city scape.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Color is steel gray to silver.
Luster is metallic.
Transparency crystals are opaque.
Crystal System is orthorhombic; 2/m 2/m 2/m
Crystal Habits include bladed or acicular crystals often bent or curved due to twinning, also granular and massive.
Cleavage is perfect in the lengthwise direction.
Fracture is irregular.
Hardness is 2
Specific Gravity is approximately 4.6+ (average for metallic minerals)
Streak is a dark gray.
Other Characteristics: striated lengthwise sometimes deeply, luster brighter on cleavage surfaces and crystals slightly flexible.
Associated Minerals include quartz, calcite, gold, arsenopyrite and other sulfides.
Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, softness and flexibility
Occurrence: Small deposits of stibnite are common, but large deposits are rare. It occurs in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Japan, China, Germany, Romania, Italy, France, England, Algeria, and Kalimantan, Borneo. In the United States it is found in Arkansas, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Alaska.
As of May 2007, the largest specimen on public display (1000 pounds) is at the American Museum of Natural History.[3][4] The largest documented single crystals of stibnite measured ~60x5x5 cm3 and originated from different locations including Japan, France and Germany.[5]
Variety: Stilbite is a common and perhaps the most popular zeolite mineral for collectors. Stilbite crystals can aggregate together to form a structure resembling wheat sheafs. This hourglass structure looks like several crystals stacked parallel to each other with the tops and bottoms of this structure fanning out while the middle remains thin. Stilbite's hallmark crystal habit is unique to stilbite and a rarer but related zeolite called stellerite. Whether in the wheat sheafs or not, stilbite can be a hansome specimen with its pearly luster and often colorful pink tints. Stilbite commonly forms nice crystals inside the petrified bubbles (called vesicles) of volcanic rocks that have undergone a small amount of metamorphism.Collection
RAGM Mineral CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2009.62Source or Donor
Museum Collection of MineralsAcquisition Method
DonationLocation
Location
Display Case
FS-3-BRoom
Frieda Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
ExhibitMoved By
Jillian Mather KettleyDate
January 29, 2025Notes
Location/ inventory
