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Formula: Pb10Bi3As3S19
Sulpharsenite,
jordanite homologous series group
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific Gravity: 6.82 calculated
Hardness: 3½
Colour: Tin white
Common impurities: Sb
Environments
Hydrothermal environments
Fumeroles
Kirkiite is an extremely rare arsenic and
bismuth bearing mineral.
Localities
At the type locality, the Agios Philippos Mine, Kirki Mines, Evros, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece, kirkiite occurs
as grains to 200 microns in a hydrothermal lead-zinc deposit.
Associated minerals include
cosalite, bismuthinite,
bismuth-rich jordanite,
seligmannite, levyclaudite and
galena in a matrix of sphalerite and
pyrite
(HOM, AM 71.1278-1279).
At the La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Messina Province, Sicily, Italy, kirkiite occurs in
a volcanic fumarole, formed at about 470oC, associated with sphalerite
and cannizzarite
(HOM).
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