Freieslebenite | |
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General | |
Category | Sulfosalt minerals |
Formula (repeating unit) | AgPbSbS3 |
IMA symbol | Flb[1] |
Strunz classification | 2.JB.15 |
Crystal system | Monoclinic |
Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
Space group | P21/n |
Unit cell | a = 7.518(1) b = 12.809(4) c = 5.940(1) [Å] β = 92.25(1)°; Z = 4 |
Identification | |
Color | Pale steel-gray to silver-white or lead-gray |
Crystal habit | Striated, prismatic crystals, inclusions and exsolutions in galena and other silver minerals |
Twinning | Twin plane {010} |
Cleavage | {110} Indistinct |
Fracture | Brittle-conchoidal |
Mohs scale hardness | 2.5 |
Luster | Metallic |
Streak | Whitish-gray |
Diaphaneity | Opaque |
Specific gravity | 6.20–6.23 |
Pleochroism | Very weak |
References | [2][3][4] |
Freieslebenite is a sulfosalt mineral composed of antimony, lead, and silver. Sulfosalt minerals are complex sulfide minerals with the formula: AmBnSp. The formula of freieslebenite is AgPbSbS3.
Freieslebenite was discovered in approximately 1773 in the Himmelsfurst mines of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The mineral was initially called Schilf-Glaserz; however, in 1845 it was given the current name Freieslebenite after the Mining Commissioner of Saxony, Johann Carl Freiesleben (1774–1846).[5]