Alabandite
Aguilarite |
Sommaire
COLOR
Grey. Takes a good polish but tarnishes rather rapidly.
REFLECTANCE
Rather low. By comparison with sphalerite and greenockite, it is higher.
ANISOTROPISM
None, The mineral often shows rather dark green, sometimes yellowish green internal reflections. Generally, they are rarer than in sphalerite of greenockite.
TEXTURE
Lamellar twins similar to sphalerite observable without etching. Alabandite, like sphalerite, may show pyrrhotite resolution, but this is rather rare.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS
Sphalerite, pyrite, galena, cubanite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, occasionally tellurides.
CRITERIA OF DETERMINATION
Low reflectance, good polish, green internal reflections and rapid tarnishing are its main characteristics. By comparison with sphalerite and greenockite, it has definitely higher reflectance. Manganosite which also has green internal reflections is darker than sphalerite and its internal reflections are far more abundant and emerald-green.
Source
ATLAS OF ORE MINERALS (P. Picot and Z. Johan)