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Pearceite

Year of discovery: 1896 (Mollie Gibson mine, USA), 1960 (Japan)

Locality list: 29 localities of pearceite

• Ag₁₅CuAs₂S₁₁
• [(Ag,Cu)₆(As,Sb)₂S₇][Ag₉CuS₄]
• [Ag⁺₆][As³⁺₂][S₇]^14-,[Ag⁺₉][Cu⁺][S₄]^8-

• Class: Polybasite group < Ag sulfosalts < Sulfosalt class
• Class: Sulfosalt

• Ag => Cu: Cupropearceite

• As => Sb: Polybasite (Series)

• Color: Black with a red tint
• Streak: Reddish black
• Luster: Metallic
• Diaphaneity: Opaque

• Habit: Pseudohexagonal short tabular
• Aggregate: Rosette
• Striation: Triangle on {001}

• Cleavage: Poor on {001} (1 plane)
• Hardness: 2.5-3
• Density: 6.2

• System: Trigonal (Tac), Trigonal (T2ac, Arsenpolybasite-221), Monoclinic (M2a2b2c, Arsenpolybasite-222) (Layer-stacking polytype)
• Group: (-3)m, P(-3)m1
• Lattice: a=7.4, c=11.9

Etymology: Richard Pearce (1837-1927), American chemist

Synonym: Arsenpolybasite