Galena

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

For other uses, see Galena (disambiguation).

Galena (lead glance)

Calcite-Galena-elm56c.jpg

Galena close-up

General

Category Sulfide mineral, octahedral subgroup

Formula

(repeating unit) PbS

Strunz classification 2.CD.10

Dana classification 2.8.1.1

Crystal system Cubic

Crystal class Hexoctahedral (m3m) 

H–M symbol: (

4

/

m

 3 

2

/

m

)

Space group Fm3m

Unit cell a = 5.936 Å; Z = 4

Identification

Color Lead gray and silvery

Crystal habit Cubes and octahedra, blocky, tabular and sometimes skeletal crystals

Twinning Contact, penetration and lamellar

Cleavage Cubic perfect on [001], parting on [111]

Fracture Subconchoidal

Tenacity Brittle

Mohs scale hardness 2.5–2.75

Luster Metallic on cleavage planes

Streak Lead gray

Diaphaneity Opaque

Specific gravity 7.2–7.6

Optical properties Isotropic and opaque

Fusibility 2

Other characteristics Natural semiconductor

References [1][2][3]

Galena's unit cell

The rock-salt crystal structure. Each atom has six nearest neighbors, with octahedral geometry.

Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide. It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.[4]

Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite.

Contents

1 Lead ore deposits

2 Crystal structure

3 Geochemistry

4 Galena uses

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links

Lead ore deposits

Galena on fluorite

Galena is the main ore of lead, used since ancient times. Because of its somewhat low melting point, it was easy to liberate by smelting. It typically forms in low-temperature sedimentary deposits.

In some deposits galena contains about 1–2% silver, a byproduct that far outweighs the main lead ore in revenue. Galena deposits often also contain significant amounts of silver as included silver sulfide mineral phases or as limited solid solution within the galena structure. These argentiferous galenas have long been the most important ore of silver.[citation needed]

A microscopic picture of Galena

Galena deposits are found worldwide in various environments.[3] Noted deposits include those at Freiberg in Saxony;[1] Cornwall, the Mendips in Somerset, Derbyshire, and Cumberland in England; the Madan and Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria; the Sullivan Mine of British Columbia; Broken Hill and Mount Isa in Australia; and the ancient mines of Sardinia. In the United States, it occurs most notably in the Mississippi Valley type deposits of the Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri,[1] and in the Driftless Area of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Cubic galena with calcite from Jasper County, Missouri, USA; 5.1 cm × 3.2 cm × 2.8 cm (2.0 in × 1.3 in × 1.1 in)

Galena also was a major mineral of the zinc-lead mines of the tri-state district around Joplin in southwestern Missouri and the adjoining areas of Kansas and Oklahoma.[1] Galena is also an important ore mineral in the silver mining regions of Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Montana. Of the latter, the Coeur d'Alene district of northern Idaho was most prominent.[1]

Galena is the official state mineral of the U.S. states of Missouri and Wisconsin; the former mining communities of Galena, Kansas and Galena, Illinois take their names from deposits of this mineral.

The largest documented crystal of galena is composite cubo-octahedra from the Great Laxey Mine, Isle of Man, measuring 25 cm × 25 cm × 25 cm (10 in × 10 in × 10 in).[5]

Crystal structure

Galena belongs to the octahedral sulfide group of minerals that have metal ions in octahedral positions, such as the iron sulfide pyrrhotite and the nickel arsenide niccolite. The galena group is named after its most common member, with other isometric members that include manganese bearing alabandite and niningerite.[3]

Divalent lead (Pb) cations and sulfur (S) anions form a close-packed cubic unit cell much like the mineral halite of the halide mineral group. Zinc, cadmium, iron, copper, antimony, arsenic, bismuth and selenium also occur in variable amounts in galena. Selenium substitutes for sulfur in the structure constituting a solid solution series. The lead telluride mineral altaite has the same crystal structure as galena.

Geochemistry

Within the weathering or oxidation zone galena alters to anglesite (lead sulfate) or cerussite (lead carbonate). Galena exposed to acid mine drainage can be oxidized to anglesite by naturally occurring bacteria and archaea, in a process similar to bioleaching.[6]

Galena uses

One of the oldest uses of galena was in the eye cosmetic kohl. In Ancient Egypt, this was applied around the eyes to reduce the glare of the desert sun and to repel flies, which were a potential source of disease.[7]

Galena is the primary ore of lead, which is mainly used in making lead–acid batteries; however, significant amounts are also used to make lead sheeting and lead shot. Galena is often mined for its silver content, such as at the Galena Mine in northern Idaho.

Also known as "potter's ore", galena is used in a green glaze applied to pottery.[citation needed]

Galena cat's whisker detector

Galena is a semiconductor with a small band gap of about 0.4 eV, which found use in early wireless communication systems. It was used as the crystal in crystal radio receivers, in which it was used as a point-contact diode capable of rectifying alternating current to detect the radio signals. The galena crystal was used with a sharp wire, known as a "cat's whisker" in contact with it. The operation of the radio required that the point of contact on the galena be shifted about to find a part of the crystal that acted as a rectifying diode. Making such wireless receivers was a popular home hobby in Britain and other European countries during the 1930s. Scientists associated with the investigation of the diode effect are Karl Ferdinand Braun and Jagadish Bose. In modern wireless communication systems, galena detectors have been replaced by more reliable semiconductor devices.[8]

See also

List of minerals

Lead smelter