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Formula: Cu2ZnSnS4
Sulphide, stannite group, zinc- and
tin- bearing mineral, forms a series with
stannite
Crystal System: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 4.54 to 4.59
Hardness: 4½
Streak: Black
Colour: Greenish black
Environments
Kësterite occurs in quartz-sulphide hydrothermal veinlets in
tin deposits. Associated minerals include
arsenopyrite, stannoidite,
chalcopyrite, chalcocite,
sphalerite and tennantite
(HOM).
Localities
At the Snowflake mine, Mount Cotterell, Revelstoke Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada, an example of a
stannite-kësterite intergrowth was found. The ore consists chiefly
of sphalerite, pyrite and
galena, with lesser, but appreciable, amounts of
stannite-kësterite; the remainder of the minerals occur in very small
to trace amounts, and include cassiterite,
pyrrhotite, rutile,
scheelite, silver-bearing
tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite,
covellite, cerussite and a
tellurium-bearing canfieldite.
The stannite-kësterite occurs as black, coarsely crystalline masses,
up to 2 inches across, associated with pyrite in a matrix of milky
quartz, apparently of vein-type origin. All fragments of
stannite-kësterite mounted in polished sections exhibit exsolution
textures
(CM 11.531-534).
At Mount Xuebaoding, Songpan County, Ngawa Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China, crystals of black kësterite occur,
often coated by green mushistonite and sometimes associated with
green malachite
(AESS)
Kësterite from Mount Xuebaoding
The type locality is the Kester deposit, Kester harpolith, Arga-Ynnakh-Khaya granite Massif, Yana-Adycha Region, Yana
River Basin, Verkhoyansk District, Sakha, Russia.
Kësterite from the Kester Deposit - Image
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