Images
Formula: PdNi8S8
Sulphide of palladium and nickel,
pentlandite group,
pentlandite supergroup
Crystal system: Isometric
Specific gravity: 5.14 calculated
Streak: Black
Colour: Yellowish brown
Environments
Wangyanite is a new mineral, approved in 2024 and to date (December 2025) reported only from thr type locality.
Localities
At the type locality, the Stillwater Mine, Sweet Grass County, Montana, USA, wangyanite, a Pd end-member
mineral of the pentlandite group, was discovered. It occurs as
anhedral to subhedral granular crystals, 200 to 400 μm in size, associated with
isoferroplatinum, braggite,
pentlandite and chalcopyrite,
interstitial to plagioclase grains within
anorthosite. It is suggested that wangyanite could form by a
peritectic reaction (taking place between the solid phases and the still unsolidified portions of the liquid melt)
between braggite, pentlandite and
a sulphide liquid. These mineral associations are stable in a Ni-Pd-rich sulphide melt system at about 550°C or even
lower temperatures. Therefore, wangyanite can potentially serve as an indicator of the presence of
palladium-rich residual melts
(AM 110.11.1844-1853).
Back to Minerals