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Identity HelpPYRARGYRITE FROM??
14th May 2011 20:07 UTCWilliam C. van Laer Expert OP
I bought this specimen from a travelling Tuscon mineral dealer, who dealt mostly in healy-feely type minerals; he had these labelled as "galena", but I knew right away they weren't galena. This was about 8 years ago....got this specimen for a mere $5.00, test for silver and antimony was positive..the greyish crystals are actually red in transmitted light...the matrix appears to be a cherty limestone or perhaps an altered dolomite; associated minerals are mostly pyrite. The pyrargyrite crystals are rough and somewhat rounded (see detail in second photo). Specimen measures 10.2 x 6.9 x 6.7 cm; the largest pyrargyrite measures about 1.0 cm. across. I suspect this material is from somehwre in South America, perhaps Bolivia or Peru....any ideas??
14th May 2011 20:55 UTCMaurizio Dini Expert
Hello william:
could be any country from Perú to Argentina. It doesn't look like classical Ucchuchaqua material (generally with Rodocrosite, Antiomonpeaceite), or San Genaro. May be from Bolivia...
maurizio dini
could be any country from Perú to Argentina. It doesn't look like classical Ucchuchaqua material (generally with Rodocrosite, Antiomonpeaceite), or San Genaro. May be from Bolivia...
maurizio dini
14th May 2011 23:00 UTCAnonymous User
hi have you think at polybasite, stephanite or miargyrite for possible id for this sulfur specimens bye
15th May 2011 21:49 UTCWilliam C. van Laer Expert OP
Yanick:
The crystals are transluscent with a deep ruby-red color, which would probably eliminate both polybasite and stephanite....miargyrite appears to be sharper crystals and not quite as obviously red in transmitted light, but my specimen does resemble several of those of miargyrite on mindat...I have collected pyrargyrite here in Montana, from the Champion mine, and the crystals bear striking resemblence to those I am showing here.
The crystals are transluscent with a deep ruby-red color, which would probably eliminate both polybasite and stephanite....miargyrite appears to be sharper crystals and not quite as obviously red in transmitted light, but my specimen does resemble several of those of miargyrite on mindat...I have collected pyrargyrite here in Montana, from the Champion mine, and the crystals bear striking resemblence to those I am showing here.
15th May 2011 22:59 UTCAnonymous User
hi the most often pyrargyrite come from peruvian locality , mexico and chile.i saw some in the past coming from Ar mine France .im always think than red silver minerals from usa locality was proustite im happy to learn about pyrargyrite coming Champion mine.bye
16th May 2011 00:35 UTCRobert Meyer Expert
Certainly pyrargyrite, but pinning down a locale will be difficult. The rounded form reminds me of some pyrargyrite I have seen from Colquechaca, but I have not seen matrix like that from there. Have you checked any grains for trace amounts of tin or germanium? Sometimes Argyrodite or Canfieldite can be associated with Pyragyrrite from there. Other than that, and given your source, I would think it most likely from some locale in Peru. Perhaps some of our Peruvian experts can chime in.
16th May 2011 04:40 UTCAlfredo Petrov 🌟 Manager
What is the white part of the matrix? If it's dickite, ankerite, alunite or natroalunite, then I agree with Bob that it could well be from Bolivia. If it's calcite or dolomite then Bolivia would be less likely. (There is some calcite in Bolivia's silver veins, occasionally, but it's not abundant or widely distributed. Calcite is considered a surprisngly rare mineral in Bolivia's tin-silver mines.)
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To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
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To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
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