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Formula: MnS
Valence: Mn2+S2-
Simple sulphide of manganese,
sphalerite group, low temperature (less than 200oC)
isometric paramorph of isometric
alabandite (At ambient pressure,
alabandite is the stable MnS
paramorph from room temperature up to the melting point of 1655°C)
and hexagonal rambergite
Crystal system: Isometric
Specific gravity: 3.291 calculated for the empirical formula
Colour: Yellowish brown
Luminescence: Not fluorescent under electron beam
Environments
Browneite was approved in 2012, but to date (March 2026) it has been relorted only from the type locality.
Localities
The type locality, the Zaklodzie meteorite, Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, is an ungrouped
enstatite-rich
achondrite. The type material occurs as one single crystal
(∼16 µm in size) in contact with and surrounded by plagioclase;
enstatite and troilite are
nearby. Low-Ni iron, martensite,
tridymite, quartz,
cristobalite, sinoite,
schreibersite, buseckite,
keilite and graphite are also
present in the type sample. Browneite is yellowish brown and translucent. It is a low-temperature (<200°C)
phase, metastable relative to alabandite, that postdates the impact
melting and subsequent crystallisation of an enstatite-rich rock
(AM 97.11.2056-2059).
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