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Formula: Te
Native element, selenium group
Selen-tellurium is a selenium-bearing variety of tellurium.
Specific gravity: 6.1 to 6.3
Hardness: 2 to 2½
Streak: Grey
Colour: Tin-white
Melting point: 449.51°C
Boiling point: 988°C
Abundance in the earth’s crust: 1 part per billion by weight, 0.2 parts per billion by moles, which makes it one of the rarest stable solid elements (Wiki).
Environments
Volcanic fumeroles
Hydrothermal environments
Tellurium is a hydrothermal vein mineral, which may be of both primary and
secondary origin, and also a sublimate in volcanic fumaroles. Associated
minerals include native gold, sylvanite,
empressite, altaite,
pyrite, galena,
alabandite, baryte,
quartz and carbonates
(HOM).
At the Emperor mine, Vatukoula, Viti Levu, Fiji, tellurium occurs as a component of massive ore intimately mixed with sulphides,
tellurides and gold, and also as fine crystals up to 4 cm long in
quartz cavities
(Minrec 39.4.300-301).
The type locality is the Mariahilf Mine, Faţa Băii, Zlatna, Alba, Romania.
At mines in the Cripple Creek mining district, Colorado, USA, tellurite in the oxidised zone with
emmonsite and native gold
(Minrec 36.2.181).
Common impurities: Se,Fe,Bi,S
Tellurium-bearing minerals include:
Sulphides
nagyágite
tetradymite
Selenides
gachingite
kawazulite
Tellurides
altaite
borovskite
calaverite
cameronite
coloradoite
empressite
frohbergite
hedleyite
hessite
krennerite
mattagamite
melonite
merenskyite
michenerite
montbrayite
nagyagite
petzite
rickardite
stützite
sylvanite
tellurantimony
tellurobismuthite
telluropalladinite
vasilite
volynskite
vulcanite
weissite
Tellurobismuthides
kotulskite
moncheite
montbrayite
Sulphosalts
stibiogoldfieldite
Oxides
kuranakhite
tellurite
tewite
Sulphates
adanite
northstarite
Tellurates
Salts of telluric acid H6Te6+O6
andymcdonaldite
carlfriesite
eckhardite
frankhawthorneite
khinite
mcalpineite
wildcatite
xocolatlite
Tellurites
Salts of tellurous acid H2Te4+O3
blakeite
cliffordite
emmonsite
eztlite
mackayite
mroseite
poughite
rodalquilarite
schmitterite
sonoraite
spiroffite
tlapallite
teineite
yecoraite
zemannite
Unclassified silicates
burckhardtite
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