Jun 11 2014
Bilibinskite was named after the Soviet geologist Yuri Aleksandrovich Bilibin (1901–1952), Karpkinskii All-Union Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, who specialized in the study of gold deposits.
Properties of Bilibinskite
The following are the key properties of bilibinskite:
- Cell Data
- Space group: n.d
- a = 4.095
- Z = [0.5]
- Crystal Data
- Cubic (pseudocell)
- Point group: n.d
- Massive
- X-ray powder pattern: 2.37 (100), 1.232 (80), 2.05 (70), 1.448 (60), 3.06 (40), 1.184 (20), 3.00 (10)
| Elements |
Content 1 |
Content 2 |
| Au |
48.4 |
50.06 |
| Te |
21.6 |
21.62 |
| Pb |
19.2 |
17.55 |
| Cu |
9.35 |
10.77 |
| Ag |
1.54 |
- |
| Se |
0.34 |
- |
| Fe |
0.19 |
- |
| Total |
100.6 |
100.00 |
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density) = 11.6 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of bilibinskite = 14.3 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PE Bilibinskite = 1,253.14 barns/electron
U = PE Bilibinskite x ρ electron density = 14573.81 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.05
Boson index = 0.95 |
| Radioactivity |
Bilibinskite is not radioactive |
How to Identify Bilibinskite
Bilibinskite can be identified in the field by its color variations, such as bronze-brown, light brown, and pink-brown. Its opaque form has no cleavage. This mineral has a sub-metallic luster, with brown streak.
The density of bilibinskite is 14.27 g/cm3, with a hardness of 5 – approximate to apatite.
Global Distribution
Bilibinskite is distributed in the following places:
- Russia - From the Aginsk gold telluride deposit, Kamchatka, Far Eastern Region
- Kazakhstan - At the Southern Dzhelambet deposit, central Kazakhstan
Occurrence of Bilibinskite and Useful Mineral Association
Bilibinskite occurs in the zone of weathering of tellurium deposits.
It is often associated with minerals such as gold, bogdanovite, bezsmertnovite, belyakinite, and other tellurides of Au, Cu, Pb, Fe, sylvanite, and krennerite.
References