Bindheimite - Encyclopedia
Class : Oxides and hydroxides
Subclass : Oxides
Crystal System : Cubic
Chemistry : Pb2Sb2O6(O,OH)
Rarity : Fairly common
Bindheimite is a relatively common lead-antimony oxide in the oxidized zones of lead-antimony mineralization. Its name was given to it in honor of the German chemist Johan Jacob Bindheim who established the first chemical analysis of the mineral. It occurs in dense compact cryptocrystalline masses, sometimes earthy, in concretionary kidney-shaped nodules, or sometimes in fibrous aggregates (probably pseudomorphs), it is also found in newly formed dendritic crystals in certain slags. Its color is variable : usually yellow to brown, sometimes reddish brown or greenish, rarely grey, white or red.
Main photo : Bindheimite pseudomorph after boulangerite from Ludwig Mine, Freiburg, Germany © Joachim Esche
Bindheimite in the World
Twinning and special crystallizations
No twins known for this mineral species.
Fakes and treatments
No fake or treatment recorded for this mineral species.
Hardness : 4 to 4.5
Density : 4.6 to 8.4
Fracture : Conchoidal
Trace : White to yellow
TP : Translucent to opaque
RI : 1.84 to 1.87
Birefringence : 0
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : Hydrochloric and nitric acid
Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None