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Formula: FeAs2
Oxidation states: Fe2+As1-2 (AM 87.1692-1698)
Arsenide,
löllingite group
There is complete solid solution between safflorite and
löllingite, limited solution of cobalt in
rammelsbergite and no
solid solution between löllingite and rammelsbergite
(AM53.1856, Mindat).
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 7.43 measured, 7.472 calculated
Hardness: 5 to 5½
Streak: Greyish black
Colour: Steel grey to silver white
Common impurities: Bi
Environments:
Pegmatites
Metamorphic environments
Hydrothermal environments
Löllingite occurs in mesothermal deposits associated with other suphides and
calcite gangue; it is also found in
pegmatites (Webmin). Associated minerals include
skutterudite,
bismuth, nickeline,
nickelskutterudite,
siderite and calcite
(HOM).
Localities
At Johanngeorgenstadt, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony, Germany, löllingite was first identified from
bismuth - cobalt -
nickel veins during the final mining period of 1945–1958, as tiny, star-shaped
crystals with collomorphic (crystallised from colloids) pitchblende. A
specimen consisting of löllingite, safflorite,
pitchblende and dyscrasite was
found at the 95-fathom level
(MinRec 55.5.599).
At the Carrock Mine, Mungrisdale, Eden, Cumbria, England, UK, grey-black löllingite has been found with
yellowish green scorodite on quartz
(AESS).
Löllingite from the Carrock Mine - Image
At the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Oxford county, Maine, USA, löllingite forms masses to 15 cm across. Rare
crude crystals
occur in massive rhodochrosite. The Emmons
pegmatite is an example of a highly
evolved
boron-lithium-cesium-tantalum
enriched pegmatite
(R&M 94.6.511).
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