SENARMONTITE
Class : Oxides and hydroxides
Subclass : Oxides
Crystal system : Cubic
Chemistry : Sb2O3
Rarity : Rare
Senarmontite is an uncommon antimony oxide resulting from alteration of the stibnite. It is found in the superficial oxidation zones of antimony deposits associated with other oxidized antimony minerals (cervantite, stibiconite, valentinite, etc...). It owes its name to Henri Hureau de Senarmont, professor of mineralogy at the Ecole des Mines in Paris, who was the first to study this mineral. Resinous to adamantine luster, colorless to gray depending on its degree of purity, it frequently occurs in translucent octahedral crystals, and in snowy white to white-gray masses. It is a mineral little known to collectors which can constitute an antimony ore.
Main photo : Senarmontite from Djebel Hamimat, Algeria
Senarmontite in the World
Senarmontite in France
In France, we find senarmontite in micro-crystals associated with stibnite in many deposits : Montlamard near Moulins (Allier), in various antimony mines in Haute-Loire such as La Bessade, at the La Forge mine near Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme), at Rivet in Peyrebrune (Tarn), at the La Ramée mine (Vendée), etc...
Twinning
Senarmontite has no twinned crystals known.
Fakes and scams
No scam known for this mineral.
Hardness : 2 to 2.5
Density : 5.5
Fracture : Irregular
Trace : White
TP : Transparent to translucent
RI : 2.087
Birefringence : None
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : Hydrochloric acid
Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None