Arsenolite - Encyclopedia
Class : Oxides and hydroxides
Subclass : Oxides
Crystal System : Cubic
Chemistry : As2O3
Rarity : Fairly common
Arsenolite is an immediate oxidation product of native arsenic and arsenic sulfides in hydrothermal veins, and a sublimation product of burning collieries and burnt areas of mines. It was so named because of the arsenic it contains. It occurs in small colourless, bluish, yellowish or brownish millimetric octahedra, or in aggregates, masses and encrustations, botryoidal, stalactitic or earthy. It is a highly toxic mineral that contains arsenic in a soluble form.
Main photo : Arsenolite from the burning slag heaps of La Ricamarie, Loire, France © Chinellato Matteo
Arsenolite in the World
Photo : Arsenolite from White Caps Mine, Nevada, USA © Antonio Borrelli
Twinning and special crystallizations
No twin known for this mineral species.
Fakes and treatments
No fake or treatment identified for this mineral species. But the most beautiful crystals of arsenolite are however artificial and are "produced" by the processing plants where the arsenic ores are roasted.
Hardness : 1.5
Density : 3.87
Fracture : Conchoidal
Trace : White to pale yellow
TP : Transparent to translucent
RI : 1.755
Birefringence : 0
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : Warm water
Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None