Hauerite - Encyclopedia
Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
Subclass : Sulfides
Crystal system : Cubic
Chemistry : MnS2
Rarity : Rare
Hauerite is a rare mineral present in salt sediments (evaporites and salt domes), constantly associated with gypsum and native sulphur, because its growth requires an environment supersaturated with sulfur. It is exceptional in iron and manganese nodules on the ocean floor. It was named in honor of Austrian geologists Joseph Ritter von Hauer and his son. Hauerite forms octahedral crystals, rarely cubo-octahedrons, sometimes centimetric. Hauerite is also massive, grainy, in globular assemblages. It is a dark red to reddish brown mineral, tarnishing to matte black. The luster is strong, metallic to adamantine.
Main photo : 2.5 cm hauerite from Destricella Mine, Raddusa, Sicily, Italy © Laszlo Kupi
Hauerite in the World
Fakes and treatments
No fakes recorded for this mineral species.
Hardness : 4
Density : 3.46
Fracture : Sub-conchoidal
Streak : Reddish-brown
TP : Opaque
RI : 2.69
Birefringence : 0
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : Hydrochloric acid
Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None