Mineralogical data on salzburgite and paarite, two new members of the bismuthinite-aikinite series

• Published in: Canadian mineralogist Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 909 - 917
• Main Authors: Topa, D, Makovicky, E, Balic-Zunic, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mineralogical Association of Canada 01-06-2005
• Subjects: aikinite; Austria; bismuthinite; Central Europe; chemical composition; Europe; Felbertal Deposit; formula; hardness; metal ores; Mineralogy; new minerals; nonsilicates; paarite; physical properties; reflectance; Salzburg Austria; Salzburg State Austria; salzburgite; scheelite; solid solution; sulfides; tungstates; tungsten ores; X-ray diffraction data
• DOI: 10.2113/gscanmin.43.3.909
• EISSN: 1499-1261
• ISSN: 0008-4476

Salzburgite (Cu1.6Pb1.6Bi6.4S12, a 4.007, b 44.81, c 11.513 Å, Z = 4, space group Pmc21) and paarite(Cu1.7Pb1.7Bi6.3S12, a 4.0070, b 55.998, c 11.512 Å, Z =5, space group Pmcn) are two new Cu-Pb-Bi sulphosalts found in quartz veins of the Felbertal scheelite deposit, Salzburg Province, Austria. Both occur as rare elongate homogeneous crystals up to 0.3 mm long and 0.1 mm diameter, and as lamellae in exsolution pairs. They are associated with bismuthinite, derivatives in the bismuthinite--krupkaite range, Ag-bearing lillianite, makovickyite, pavonite, cosalite, cannizzarite, tetradymite, native bismuth, chalcopyrite and pyrite. They are both opaque with a metallic lustre; in reflected light they are greyish white with reflectance ∼ 37 %; microhardness VHN50--100 2.04--2.46 kg/mm2. For salzburgite, EPMA data gave Cu 4.65, Fe 0.05, Pb 15.97, Bi 61.58, S 17.79, = 100.04, leading to the empirical formula Cu1.60Pb1.64Bi6.38S11.97 and Dcalc 6.904 g/cm3. The average composition of paarite is Cu 4.79, Fe 0.08, Pb 16.74, Bi 60.76, S 17.83, = 100.2, leading to the empirical formula Cu1.66Pb1.71Bi6.31S12.03 and Dcalc 6.944 g/cm3. The indexed, calculated XRD powder data are tabulated; strongest lines 3.630(100), 2.836(93), 3.136(92), 3.551(85) 3.155(57) Å. Salzburgite is named for the province of Salzburg and paarite is named in honour of W. H. Paar, Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Salzburg.