Editorial Feature

Livingstonite - Occurrence, Properties, and Distribution

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May 16 2013

Livingstonite is a mineral comprising mercury, antimony and sulfur. It was named after the Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingston.

Properties of Livingstonite

The following are the key properties of Livingstonite:

Cell Data

Space Group: A2/a
a = 30.567
b = 4.015
c = 21.465
Z = 8

Crystal Data

Monoclinic
Point Group: 2/m
As elongated needles up to 12 cm; also fibrous, massive, columnar, and in globular masses and interlaced needles
X-ray powder pattern: 3.00 (100), 3.74 (70), 3.48 (70), 2.28 (60), 1.734 (50), 5.16 (40), 2.67 (30)

Chemical Composition

Elements	Content 1	Content 2	Content 3
Hg	22.52	21.0	21.25
Sb	53.75	51.6	51.58
S	23.73	28.6	27.17
Total	100.00	101.2	100.00

Optical Properties

Optical Class: Biaxial (-)

R1–R2: (400) 35.0–44.3, (420) 34.2–44.3, (440) 33.2–44.4, (460) 32.8–44.9, (480) 32.6–44.9, (500)

32.3–43.8, (520) 31.8–42.3, (540) 31.2–41.0, (560) 30.7–40.0, (580) 30.4–39.2, (600) 29.9–38.1, (620)

29.1–36.8, (640) 28.4–35.7, (660) 27.8–34.9, (680) 27.4–34.2, (700) 26.9–33.6

Estimated Properties


Electron density	Bulk density (electron density)=4.34 g/cm³ note: Specific gravity of Helvine =4.97 g/cm³
Photoelectric	PE_{Livingstonite} = 519.98 barns/electron U=PE_{Livingstonite} x ?Electron Density=2,255.52 barns/cc
Fermion index	Fermion Index = 0.06 Boson Index = 0.94
Radioactivity	Livingstonite is not radioactive

How to Identify Livingstonite

Livingstonite is opaque and translucent in thin fragments. It has a blackish gray color. In a polished section, it is white;;, in transmitted light, it is red with deep red internal reflections. It has red streaks and a luster from adamantine to metallic.

Global Distribution

Livingstonite is distributed in the following places

In Mexico, from the La Cruz mine, Huitzuco, Guerrero [TL] and at the Trinidad mine, Guadalc´azar, San Luis Potos´i
It is also obtained from the Matsuo mine, Iwate Prefecture, Japan and at Khaydarkan, Fergana Valley, Alai Range, Kyrgyzstan
From Pedrosa del Rey, Le´on, Spain.