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Formula: Ag2Te
Telluride of silver
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 8.24 to 8.45 measured, 8.4 calculated
Hardness: 2 to 3
Streak: Black
Colour: Lead-grey, steel-grey
Common impurities: Au,Pb
Environments
Placers
Hydrothermal environments
Hessite is widely distributed in tellurium-rich
silver-gold ores (Dana). It occurs in
hydrothermal medium- and low-temperature veins, and also in small quantities in some massive
pyrite deposits (HOM). It is typically found in precious metal-telluride associations,
occurring with gold, bismuth,
lead, silver or gold
tellurides in quartz-carbonate lodes and stockworks
(MW).
Other associated minerals include calaverite,
sylvanite, altaite,
petzite, empressite,
rickardite, gold,
tellurium, pyrite,
galena, tetrahedrite and
chalcopyrite
(HOM).
Localities
At the Hidden Secret Gold Mine, Golden Mile Mines, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Shire, Western Australia,
hessite occurred with other tellurides in unusually rich ores of
gold
(R&M 96.3.207).
At the Con West property, Taseko Lake Area, Clinton Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada, hessite has been found as
small grains
embedded in chalcopyrite
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Pellaire Gold Mines property, Taseko Lake, Clinton Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada, hessite has been
found as small
grains with native gold
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Hedley Monarch Mine, Olalla, Osoyoos Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada, hessite has been found in contact with
altaite and petzite
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Marble Bay and Little Billie mines, Texada Island, British Columbia, Canada, hessite has been found in minute amounts in
close association with chalcopyrite and bornite
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Hollinger Mine, Tisdale Township, Porcupine mining district, Timmins area, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada, hessite
has been found as thin films on cleavage planes of ankerite
(AM 34.354-356).
At a prospect in Tisdale Township, Porcupine mining district, Timmins area, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada, a specimen of vein
quartz has been found with a small area of hessite and
gold at the contact of a serpentine stringer
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Hollinger mine, Timmins, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada, minor specimens of gold
and hessite, often associated with petzite, have been collected
(R&M 96.3.207).
At the Ardeen Mine, Moss Township, Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada, grains of hessite and
altaite have been found in a gangue of
quartz and
calcite; also, hessite has been found together with
petzite, as a massive crust on one surface of vein
quartz with gold
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Kirkland Lake Mine, Kirkland Lake Township, Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada, hessite has been found
as coarsely crystalline
calcite with grains of hessite associated with small compact masses of
coloradoite, chalcopyrite and
tetrahedrite
(AM 34.354-356).
Hessite from Kirkland Lake - Image
At the East Sullivan mine, Val d'Or, La Vallée-de-l'Or RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada, hessite occurs as
disseminated
grains in quartz and associated with
tourmaline, pyrite,
chalcopyrite and gold
(AM 34.354-356).
At Burwash Creek, Kluane District, Whitehorse mining district, Yukon, Canada, hessite has been found in a number of small
nuggets of
gold from the placer workings
(AM 34.354-356)
At the Buffalo Hump Group on Mount Stevens, Wheaton River District, Whitehorse mining district, Yukon, Canada, hessite has
been found
as sparse disseminations in quartz with galena
(AM 34.354-356).
At the Emperor Mine, Vatukoula, Tavua Gold Field, Viti Levu, Fiji, hessite occurs with
sylvanite and gold
(Minrec 39.4.299).
At the Mihara mine, Higashi-Mihara, Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, excellent specimens of hessite with
gold have been found
(R&M 96.3.207).
Hessite from the Mihara Mine - Image
The type locality is the Second Zavodinskii Mine, Zyryan District, East Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan.
Hessite from the Second Zavodinskii Mine -
Image
At Botești, Zlatna, Alba, Romania, hessite has been confirmed on a specimen of crystalline
sphalerite with a few poorly developed crystals of hessite on a group of compact
quartz crystals
(AM 34.354-356). It has also been reported from this locality with gold and
calcite
(R&M 84.6.535).
Hessite from Botești - Image
At the Susuman district, Kolyma River Basin, Magadanskaya Oblast, Russia, good specimens of gold
with hessite have been found
(R&M 96.3.207).
At Clogau Mine, Bontddu, Gwynedd, Wales, UK, hessite is present in the localised ore-zones where
gold and tellurides are present. Samples have been
found of hessite associated with
tellurobismuthite, tetradymite,
galena and
chalcopyrite cementing shattered
arsenopyrite
(MW).
At the Shore Mine, Table Mountain, Vallecito District, Calaveras Coounty, California, USA, hessite occurs sparingly on
leaves and sheets of gold
(R&M 96.3.207).
At Otto Mountain, Baker, Soda Mountains, Silver Lake Mining District, San Bernardino county, California, USA,
primary hessite occurs
as tiny blebs either associated with
pyrite or galena, or isolated in
quartz
(R&M 86.2.138).
Hessite from Otto Mountain - Image
At the Crystalline Mine, Jamestown Mine, Jamestown, Jamestown District, Mother Lode Belt, Tuolumne county, California, USA,
hessite occurs with sheet gold
(R&M 96.3.207).
At the Rex Mine, Gold Hill Mining District, Boulder county, Colorado, USA, gold occurred
in small vugs in hessite associated with petzite and
coloradoite
(R&M 96.3.207).
Hessite from the Rex Mine - Image
At the Cripple Creek mining district, Colorado, USA, hessite has been found as microscopic grains in
calaverite
(Minrec 36.2.173).
Hessite from Cripple Creek - Image
At the Sunnyside Mine, Browns Hole Area, San Juan county, Utah, USA, hessite is found occasionally with
gold
(R&M 96.3.207).
At the Tintic Mining District, East Tintic Mountains, Utah, USA, small specimens of
gold with
hessite have been collected
(R&M 96.3.207).
Abundant amounts of hessite have been found in veins and as metallic masses in several mines in the district,
the most important being the Trixie mine. So far (2024), it has been reported only from mines in the eastern part of
the district, including the Trixie, Tintic Standard, North Lily and Eureka Standard mines.
At the Trixie mine, hessite occurs in veins as black-grey masses and blebs in a matrix of
quartz and baryte, and it is
frequently found with considerable amounts of gold embedded in and around the
hessite.
At the Tintic Standard, Eureka Standard and North Lily mines, hessite occurs as black masses in a matrix of
quartz, sometimes also associated with
gold. Crystals of hessite to 1 mm, usually associated with
gold but sometimes alone, have been found in vugs of
quartz at the Trixie mine; veins and masses of hessite can cover many
square centimeters on matrix
(MinRec 55.2.206).
Hessite from Tintic - Image
At the Daniel's Mine, Virgilina District, Charlotte county, Virginia, USA, hessite occurs with
gold and a suite of copper minerals
(R&M 96.3.207).
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