Physical Properties of Ore Minerals

Table 1. Cubic Crystal Class

Minerals are arranged alphabetically by space group (Schoenflies symbol).

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Mineral Name	Composition	Space Group	Resistivity (ohm-m)	Dielectric Permittivity	Charge Separation Phenomena	Curie Temp. °C	Magnetic Properties k×10-6cgs	Optical Properties	R %	Comments
Cobaltite	CoAsS	T4	semiconductor 1.3x10-1 to 6.5	33<e<81	piezoelectric			very weak pleochroism	50.5
Cobaltullmanite	(Ni,CO)SbS	T4			piezoelectric			no data
Gersdorffite	(Ni,Co,Fe)AsS	T4	metal 10-6 to 1		piezoelectric ferroelectric??	²700	paramagnetic	some anomalous anisotropism	54.2	Also under triclinic point group 1, space group P1
Kallilite	Ni(Sb,Bi)S	T4			piezoelectric			some anisotropy	44.5 to 46.1?
Krutovite	Ni1-xAs2	T4	metal		piezoelectric			no data	64-67?
Ullmanite	NiSbS	T4	metal 9×10-8 to 9		piezoelectric			some anisotropy	46.4	Forms solid solution with corynite.
Willyamite	(Co,Ni)SbS	T4			piezoelectric			isotropic	~45 ?
Bravoite	(Ni,Fe,Co)S2	Th6			piezoelectric			isotropic	30.9 to 52.2	Forms solid solution with pyrite, vaesite, and cattierite. Reflectivity (R) varies with composition.
Cattierite	CoS2	Th6	metal 10-6 to 10-4			120K	ferrimagnetic k = 4,000	isotropic	33.4	Forms solid solution with pyrite, vaesite, and bravoite.
Pyrite	FeS2	Th6	semiconductor 10-5 to 102 10-3 n-type 3x10-2 p-type	10<e<81	ferroelectric ??	²742	diamagnetic paramagnetic k = 4 to 420 mean 130	bireflectance except on octahedral planes; anisotropic., twinning may be common.	51.7 to 52.8	Forms solid solution with arsenopyrite, bravoite, cattierite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and vaesite. Dimorphic with marcasite. Measurable surface charges on crystal faces at 25C.
Vaesite	NiS2	Th6	semiconductor 10-3 to 1		ferroelectric ??	²1022	antiferromagnetic k = 700	resembles pyrrhotite	30.7 to 31.6	Forms solid solution with pyrite, bravoite, and cattierite.
Sulvanite	Cu3(V,As)S4	Td1			piezoelectric			isotropic	29.0 to 30.2	Complete solid solution between vanadiosulvanite and arsenosulvanite.
Coloradoite	HgTe	Td2	semiconductor 4×10-6 - 10-4		piezoelectric			isotropic	35.5 to 36.8
Colusite	Cu3(Fe,V,As,Sn,)S4	Td2			piezoelectric			strongly zoned	29.8	Superstructure of sphalerite
Hawleyite	CdS	Td2	semiconductor		piezoelectric		diamagnetic k = -50	isotropic	~20	Dimorphic with greenockite
Metacinnabar	HgS	Td2	semiconductor 10-6 to 10-2		piezoelectric		diamagnetic k = -55	very weak pleochroism, weak anisotropy, weak bireflectance.	25.5	Dimorphic with cinnabar
Sphalerite	ZnS	Td2	semiconductor 2.7×10-3-1012	7.5<e<69.7	piezoelectric	²1020	diamagnetic k = -25 to -60	isotropic to moderate birefringence as wurtzite structure approached.	16.7	Dimorphic with wurtzite and matraite.
Stilleite	ZnSe	Td2	semiconductor	9.1	piezoelectric			isotropic to weak anisotropy.	~30
Tiemannite	HgSe	Td3	semimetal	25<e<29	piezoelectric			isotropic	25.5 to 29.2
Eskebornite	Cu<1Fe>2Se>2	Td3			piezoelectric ferroelectric ??		ferrimagnetic	distinct pleochroism, strong anisotropy, weak to distinct bireflectance	Ro-32.8 Re-29.2
Galkhaite	HgAsS2	Td3			piezoelectric			deep orange XX's	no data
Talnakhite	Cu9(Fe,Ni)8S16	Td3	semiconductor		piezoelectric		antiferromagnetic	isotropic	39.3	Forms solid solution with chalcopyrite.
Tennantite	(Cu,Fe,Zn,Ag)12· Sb4S13	Td3	semiconductor 7×10-4 to 0.4		piezoelectric			isotropic, internal reflections common	29.6	Forms solid solution with tetrahedrite.
Tetrahedrite	(Cu,Fe,Zn,Ag)12· Sb4S13	Td3	semiconductor 0.3 to 3×104		piezoelectric			isotropic, internal reflections uncommon	30.5	Forms solid solution with tennantite.
Boracite (beta)	Mg3B7O13Cl	Td5	insulator 108 to 1010	[110] 8	ferroelectric LeCorre (1957)	265		weak birefringence	OT	High temperature paraelectric phase. See under orthorhombic as well.
Domeykite	Cu3As	Td6			piezoelectric	²225		isotropic	52.1
Germanite	Cu3(Ge,Fe)S4	T11			piezoelectric			isotropic	20.3
Cuprite	Cu2O	Oh4	semiconductor 3 to 3×102	7.6			diamagnetic k = -20	distinct pleochroism, distinct anisotropy, very weak bireflectance.	26.6 to 26.7
Alabandite	MnS	Oh5	semiconductor		ferroelectric ?		antiferromagnetic Tn = -121°C k = 5,600	weakly anisotropic, common internal reflections.	22.7	Forms solid solution with iron albandite.
Altaite	PbTe Pb1-xSnxTe Pb1-xGexTe	Oh5	semiconductor 10-5 to 10-4	400<e<104	ferroelectric Lines and Glass (1977)			PbTe is isotropic	68.8	Ferroelectric in solid solution with Ge or Sn.
Clausthalite	PbSe	Oh5	semiconductor	280	ferroelectric ?			weakly anisotropic.	50.9	Most common mineral of selenium.
Galena	PbS	Oh5	semiconductor mixed type 6.8×10-6-17.5 mean 2×10-3	18<e<205	ferroelectric ?	²1127	diamagnetic paramagnetic? k = -3 to +84	weakly anisotropic	43.1 to 43.6	Measurable surface charge on fresh crystal faces at 25C.
Manganosite	MnO	Oh5		18	ferroelectric ?		antiferromagnetic k = 4,850	abundant internal reflections	13.9 to 14.4
Murdochite	PbCu6O8	Oh5			ferroelectric ?			isotropic, strongly zoned, common twinning.	17.0
Chromite	FeCr2O4	Oh7	semiconductor 1 to 5×107	11	ferroelectric ?	-185	ferrimagnetic k = 240 to 9400 mean 600	may show weak anisotropism, common internal reflections.	12.3
Daubréelite	Cr2FeS4	Oh7			ferroelectric ?	-93	ferrimagnetic	strong pleochroism, strong anisotropy.	15 to 48	Reflectivity (R) data from different authors varies radically.
Franklinite	ZnFe2O4 (Mn,Zn)Fe2O4	Oh7	semiconductor ~105	9	ferroelectric ?	~260	ferrimagnetic k = 3.6×104	isotropic, some dark red internal reflections.	18.5 to 20.0
Lewisite (Ti-roméite)	FeCa2Sb2O7	Oh7			ferroelectric Parkhomenko (1971)			isotropic		Roméite has a number of dimorphic forms.
Magnetite	Fe3O4	Oh7	metal 3.1×10-5-10-4		ferroelectric ?	575 to 580	ferrimagnetic k = 105 - 1.6×106 mean 5×105	slight anomalous anisotropism, weak bireflectance.	20.0 to 20.1

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