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Formula: Cu3BiS3
Sulphosalt, bismuth-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 6.3 to 6.7 measured, 6.23 calculated
Hardness: 2 to 3
Streak: Black
Colour: Lead grey, bronze, tin-white, steel grey, yellow
Common impurities: Ag
Environments:
Wittichenite occurs in hydrothermal veins (Webmin), associated with
bornite,
chalcocite, chalcopyrite,
djurleite, digenite,
tennantite, pyrite,
stromeyerite, bismuth,
emplectite, rammelsbergite,
calcite, aragonite,
fluorite and baryte
(HOM).
Localities
At the Cattle Grid deposit, Mount Gunson Copper mines, Pernatty Lagoon, Stuart Shelf, South Australia,
wittichenite occurs as crystals loosely attached to crusts of earlier generations of small
supergene sulphide
crystals such as digenite, djurleite,
bornite and chalcocite. The
crystals, which may reach a few cm in length, lined breccia cavity walls,
or occurred as floaters in these
kaolinite-filled cavities
(AJM 16.2.65-67).
At the type locality, Wittichen, Schenkenzell, Rottweil, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, wittichenite
occurs in hydrothermal veins with other bismuth minerals
(HOM).
At Kletno, Gmina Stronie Śląskie, Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, wittichenite occurs with
secondary uranium minerals and
selenides of copper,
lead and bismuth
(HOM).
At Seathwaite Mine, Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite, South Lakeland, Cumbria, England, UK, wittichenite occurs with
copper-iron sulphides
(HOM).
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