FIZELYITE
Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
Subclass : Sulfosalts
Crystal system : Monoclinic
Chemistry : Pb14Ag5Sb21S48
Rarity : Very rare
Fizélyite is a complex silver sulfide present in polymetallic hydrothermal veins, especially those with dominant lead. It was named in honor of Sandor Fizely, a Hungarian mining engineer who discovered fizélyite in Herja (Romania). It is a mineral which constitutes small, deeply striated prismatic crystals without terminal faces, lead gray to steel gray in color ; the crystals are almost systematically twinned.
Main photo : Fizelyite from Claus-Friedrich Mine, Beerberg, St Andreasberg, Germany © Manfred Gross
Fizélyite in the World
Twinning
Twins are known on {010} with two series of polysynthetic twins parallel to [001] and {001}.
Fakes and treatments
No fakes recorded for this mineral species.
Hardness : 2
Density : 5.56
Fracture : Irregular
Streak : Dark gray
TP : Opaque
RI : -
Birefringence : -
Optical character : -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : -
Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None