MIARGYRITE

    Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
    Subclass : Sulfides
    Crystal system : Monoclinic
    Chemistry : AgSbS2
    Rarity : Rare

Miargyrite is a rare silver sulfide, belonging to the “red silver” family. It is a metallic mineral that forms in hydrothermal veins of gold and silver. It has only exceptionally, in certain mines, constituted the main silver ore. It is most often embedded in a mass of sulfides, among which there are numerous silver sulfides. It is also a fairly common microscopic silver carrier of "argentiferous galenas". Its name comes from the Greek meion (less) and arguros (silver), because this mineral contains less silver than other red silver sulfosalts. Iron black to steel gray miargyrite, with dark cherry red internal reflections, is usually massive, very rarely in crystals. These are then thick tabular, with streaks parallel to [010] and [-101], and do not exceed one centimeter.


Main photo : Miargyrite from San José Mine, Oaxaca, Mexico © Jordy Fabre

Miargyrite from Neue Hoffnung Gottes Mine, Saxony, Germany © Stephan Wolfsried
Miargyrite from San Genaro Mine, Huancavelica, Peru © Stephan Wolfsried
Miargyrite from San José Mine, Oaxaca, Mexico © Jordy Fabre
Miargyrite from Neuenberg, Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France © Thierry Brunsperger

Miargyrite in the World

Beautiful crystals come from the Bräunsdorf mines near Freiberg (Saxony, Germany), Pribram (Czech Republic) and Baia Sprie (Romania). The most beautiful crystals, however, were extracted from mines in Peru (Huancavelica), Bolivia (Potosi), Mexico (Valencia mine, Guanajuato) and Chile (Tres Puntas).

Miargyrite in France

In France, miargyrite is known in microcrystals at Ste-Marie-au-Mines (Haut-Rhin), it is reported at the Mine des Anglais and at Aurouze near Brioude (Haute-Loire), at Vitrac (Puy-de- Dôme) and at the Porres mine (Var).

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes recorded for this mineral species.


Hardness : 2.5
Density : 5.25
Fracture : Sub-conchoidal
Streak : Cherry red

TP : Translucent to opaque
RI : 2,720 to 2,800
Birefringence : 2.720
Optical character : Biaxial +
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Nitric acid

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

ReCaptcha

This service is used to secure web forms of our website and required if you want to contact us. By accepting it you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a service used on our website that tracks, reports traffic and measures how users interact with our website content in order for us to improve it and provide better services.

Facebook

Our website allows you to like or share its content on Facebook social network. By activating and using it you agree to Facebook's privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy/cookies/

YouTube

Integrated videos provided by YouTube are used on our website. By accepting to watch them you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Twitter

Integrated tweets and share services of Twitter are used on our website. By accepting and using these you agree to Twitter's privacy policy: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies

PInterest

Our website allows you to share its content on PInterest social network. By activating and using it you agree to PInterest's privacy policy: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy/