Millerite
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- For the religious group see: Millerites
| Millerite | |
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| General | |
| Category | Mineral |
| Chemical formula | nickel sulfide:NiS |
| Identification | |
| Color | Brass yellow |
| Crystal habit | typically acicular (needle-like) often in radial sprays - also massive |
| Crystal system | Trigonal bar 3 2/m |
| Cleavage | perfect 3 directions - obscured by typical form |
| Fracture | uneven |
| Mohs Scale hardness | 3 - 3.5 |
| Luster | metallic |
| Refractive index | opaque |
| Pleochroism | N/A |
| Streak | dark green to almost black |
| Specific gravity | 5.3 - 5.5 |
| Other Characteristics | brittle and becomes magnetic on heating |
Millerite is a nickel sulfide mineral, NiS. It is commonly found as radiating clusters of acicular needle like crystals in cavities in sulfide rich limestone and dolomite. It is also found in nickel-iron meteorites.
Millerite was discovered by W. Haidinger in 1845 in the coal mines of Wales. It was named for British mineralogist William H. Miller.
References and external links
- Hurlbut, Cornelius S.; Klein, Cornelis, 1985, Manual of Mineralogy, 20th ed., pp. 279-280, ISBN 0471805807
- Mineral galeries (http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/sulfides/millerit/millerit.htm)
- Webmineral (http://webmineral.com/data/Millerite.shtml)
- Mindat (http://www.mindat.org/min-2711.html)
- Wisconsin minerals (http://www.uwrf.edu/~wc01/millerite.htm)Template:Mineral-stub