PETZITE

    Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
    Subclass : Tellurides
    Crystal system : Cubic
    Chemistry : Ag3AuTe2
    Rarity : Rare

Petzite is a rare telluride of gold and silver. It is a rare hydrothermal mineral of epithermal gold-bearing veins where it accompanies native gold and other tellurides, mainly hessite. It was named in honor of W. Petz who made the first analysis of the mineral. Petzite has a metallic luster, it is steel gray or iron gray in color, tarnishing quickly and occurs in granular to compact masses, rarely in crystals, which are then always millimeter-sized and in intergrowth with hessite. It is an accessory ore of gold, silver but especially tellurium, recovered as a by-product in several gold mines.

Main photo : Petzite and native gold from Bald Mountain, Sonora, California, USA© Vandall Thomas King

Petzite in the World

Petzite was found in macroscopic samples at Sacarimb (formerly Nagyag, Romania), as well as in gold mines in California (Carson Hill, Tuttletown...), Colorado (Gold Hill...), and Western Australia (Kalgoorlie).

Petzite in France

Petzite is not present in the French underground.

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 2.5 to 3
Density : 8.7 to 9.4
Fracture : Sub-conchoidal
Streak : Gray-black

TP : Opaque
RI : -
Birefringence : 0
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Nitric acid

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None