Abramovite is a very rare mineral from the sulfides and sulfosalt categories. It has the chemical formula Pb2SnInBiS7. It occurs as tiny elongated lamellar-shaped crystals, up 1 mm × 0.2 mm in size, and is characterized by its non-commensurate structure.
Abramovite is a very rare mineral, and a member of the cylindrite group of minerals. It was named after the Russian mineralogist Dmitry Vadimovich Abramov, of the A.E. Fersman Museum, Russia. It can be identified in the field by its silver-gray, opaque appearance. It has a metallic lustre, with a black streak. This mineral forms crust-like aggregates on matrix.
General Information:
- Category: Sulfides and Sulfosalts
- Formula: Pb2SnInBiS7
Identification
- Formula mass: 1,066.44 g/mol
- Color: Silver gray
- Twinning: Lamellar on {100}
- Cleavage: Perfect on {100}
- Luster: Metallic
- Streak: Black
Physical Properties of Abramovite
- Color: Silver gray.
- Diaphaneity: Opaque
- Habit: Encrustations – Forms crust-like aggregates on matrix.
- Luster: Metallic
- Streak: black
Optical Properties of Abramovite
- RL Anisotrophism: Distinct without color effects.
- RL Bireflectance: Weak.
- RL Color: White with a yellowish gray hue.
Etymology and History
Abramovite is named after the mineralogist Dmitry Vadimovich Abramov (born 1963) of the A.E. Fersman Museum, Russia.
It was discovered as fumarole crust on the Kudriavy (Kudryavyi) volcano, Iturup Island, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Oblast, Far East Region, Russia. The type material of abramovite has been deposited in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
Formation
Abramovite is a product of precipitation from fumarolic gases (600 °C [1,112 °F]) in an active stratovolcano.
It is often associated with minerals such as anhydrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, sylvite, wurzite, galena, and halite. Most crystals are slightly striated along the elongation. The new mineral is silver gray, with a metallic luster and black streak. Under reflected light, abramovite is white with a yellowish gray hue.
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