Hessite - Encyclopedia
Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
Subclass : Tellurides
Crystal system : Monoclinic
Chemistry : Ag2Te
Rarity : Rare
Hessite is a rare hydrothermal mineral from epithermal gold-bearing veins that accompanies native gold and other tellurides (petzite, sylvanite, coloradoite). It was named in honor of the Swiss chemist Germain Henri Hess who studied the mineral. Hessite is gray in color with a strong metallic luster, it is usually massive, compact to finely granulated, rarely in crystals ; these are often very deformed, elongated prismatic to twisted pseudocubic, with rounded faces. It is an ore of tellurium and silver.
Main photo : Hessite and quartz from Botesti, Zlatna, Romania © Rock Currier
Hessite in the World
Twinning
Lamellar twins are visible in polished sections.
Fakes and treatments
No fakes recorded for this mineral species.
Hardness : 2 to 3
Density : 8.24 to 8.45
Fracture : Undeterminated
Streak : Black
TP : Opaque
RI : -
Birefringence : -
Optical character : -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : -
Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None