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Millerite

Big Photo

Nant Helen opencast coal mine, Onllwyn, Neath-Port Talbot (West Glamorgan; Glamorgan), Wales, UK
© C.Thomson

Show Millerite Photos (276)
Formula:
NiS
System:TrigonalColour:Pale brass-yellow, with ...
Lustre:MetallicHardness:3 - 3½
Name:Named after the English mineralogist, W. H. Miller (1801-1880), who first studied the crystals.


Commonly found as radiating and jack-straw clusters of shiny metallic acicular crystals, pale brass-yellow with an iridescent tarnish.

Classification of Millerite

IMA status:Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"
Strunz 8th edition ID:2/C.21-30
Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:2.CC.20

2 : SULFIDES and SULFOSALTS (sulfides, selenides, tellurides; arsenides, antimonides, bismuthides; sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites, sulfbismuthites, etc.)
C : Metal Sulfides, M: S = 1: 1 (and similar)
C : With Ni, Fe, Co, PGE, etc.
Dana 7th edition ID:2.8.16.1
Dana 8th edition ID:2.8.16.1

2 : SULFIDES
8 : AmXp, with m:p = 1:1
Hey's CIM Ref.:3.11.3

3 : Sulphides, Selenides, Tellurides, Arsenides and Bismuthides (except the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au, which are included in Section 1)
11 : Sulphides etc. of Ni
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Type Occurrence of Millerite

Type Locality:Jáchymov (St Joachimsthal), Ostrov, Krušné Hory Mts (Erzgebirge), Karlovy Vary Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic
Year of Discovery:1845

Occurrences of Millerite

Geological Setting:A low-temperature mineral which occurs in sulfidic limestones and dolostones, and as a late-forming mineral in nickel sulfide deposits.

Physical Properties of Millerite

Lustre:Metallic
Diaphaneity (Transparency):Opaque
Colour:Pale brass-yellow, with an iridescent tarnish, and greenish-grey.
Streak:Greenish black.
Hardness (Mohs):3 - 3½
Hardness (Vickers):VHN20=179 kg/mm2
Hardness Data:Measured
Tenacity:Brittle
Cleavage:Perfect
Perfect on {1011} and {0112}.
Fracture:Irregular/Uneven
Density (measured):5.3 - 5.5 g/cm3
Density (calculated):5.374 g/cm3

Crystallography of Millerite

Crystal System:Trigonal
Class (H-M):3m - Ditrigonal Pyramidal
Space Group:R3m
Cell Parameters:a = 9.607Å, c = 3.143Å
Ratio:a:c = 1 : 0.327
Unit Cell Volume:V 251.22 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:9
Morphology:Acicular crystals in radiating or jack-straw clusters; also massive.
Twinning:None reported.
Crystal Atlas:
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Millerite - prismatic {100}

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X-Ray Powder Diffraction:
d-spacingIntensity
4.81(60)
2.95(40)
2.78(100)
2.51(70)
2.23(60)
1.86(90)
1.82(50)

Optical Data of Millerite

Type:Anisotropic
Anisotropism:Strong
Pleochroism:Weak
Comments:Weak in air stronger in oil
Pale yellow-brown to bright yellow

Chemical Properties of Millerite

Formula:
NiS
Essential elements:Ni, S
All elements listed in formula:Ni, S
Common Impurities:Fe,Co,Cu

Relationship of Millerite to other Species

Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping):
2.CC.05Achavalite
FeSe
2.CC.05Breithauptite
NiSb
2.CC.05Freboldite
CoSe
2.CC.05Hexatestibiopanickelite
Ni(Te,Sb)
2.CC.05Kotulskite
Pd(Te,Bi)
 
1-2
2.CC.05Langisite
(Co,Ni)As ratio Co:Ni = 5:1
2.CC.05Nickeline
NiAs
2.CC.05Sederholmite
NiSe Beta-NiSe
2.CC.05Sobolevskite
PdBi
2.CC.05Stumpflite
Pt(Sb,Bi)
2.CC.05Sudburyite
(Pd,Ni)Sb
2.CC.05Jaipurite
CoS
2.CC.05Zlatogorite
NiCuSb
 
2
2.CC.05Vavřínite
Ni
 
2
SbTe
 
2
2.CC.10Pyrrhotite
Fe
 
0.83-1
S
2.CC.10Smythite
(Fe,Ni)
 
9
S
 
11
2.CC.10Troilite
FeS
2.CC.15Cherepanovite
RhAs
2.CC.15Modderite
(Co,Fe)As
2.CC.15Ruthenarsenite
(Ru,Ni)As
2.CC.15Westerveldite
(Fe,Ni,Co)As
2.CC.20Mäkinenite
γ-NiSe
2.CC.25Mackinawite
(Fe,Ni)
 
9
S
 
8
2.CC.30Braggite
(Pt,Pd,Ni)S
2.CC.30Cooperite
(Pt,Pd,Ni)S
2.CC.30Vysotskite
(Pd,Ni)S
Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:
3.11.1Heazlewoodite
Ni
 
3
S
 
2
3.11.2Godlevskite
(Ni,Fe)
 
9
S
 
8
3.11.4Polydymite
Ni
2+
 
Ni
3+
2
S
 
4
3.11.5Vaesite
NiS
 
2
3.11.6Shandite
Ni
 
3
Pb
 
2
S
 
2
3.11.7Donharrisite
Ni
 
8
Hg
 
3
S
 
9
3.11.8Violarite
Fe
2+
 
Ni
3+
2
S
 
4
3.11.9Pentlandite
(Fe,Ni)
 
9
S
 
8
3.11.10Bravoite
(Fe,Ni)S
 
2
3.11.11Siegenite
CoNi
 
2
S
 
4
3.11.12Fletcherite
Cu(Ni,Co)
 
2
S
 
4
3.11.13Villamanínite
(Cu,Ni,Co,Fe)S
 
2
3.11.14Mäkinenite
γ-NiSe
3.11.15Sederholmite
NiSe Beta-NiSe
3.11.16Trüstedtite
Ni
 
3
Se
 
4
3.11.17Wilkmanite
Ni
 
3
Se
 
4
3.11.18Kullerudite
NiSe
 
2
3.11.19Penroseite
(Ni,Co,Cu)Se
 
2
3.11.20Tyrrellite
Cu(Co
3+
 
,Ni
3+
 
)
 
2
Se
 
4
3.11.21Imgreite
NiTe (?)
3.11.22Melonite
NiTe
 
2
3.11.23Kitkaite
NiTeSe
3.11.24Dienerite
Ni
 
3
As
3.11.25Orcelite
Ni
 
5-x
As
 
2
3.11.26Maucherite
Ni
 
11
As
 
8
3.11.27Nickeline
NiAs
3.11.28Rammelsbergite
NiAs
 
2
3.11.29Pararammelsbergite
NiAs
 
2
3.11.30Nickelskutterudite
NiAs
 
2-3
3.11.31Oregonite
Ni
 
2
FeAs
 
2
3.11.32Westerveldite
(Fe,Ni,Co)As
3.11.33Langisite
(Co,Ni)As ratio Co:Ni = 5:1
3.11.34Gersdorffite
NiAsS
3.11.35Jolliffeite
NiAsSe
3.11.36Breithauptite
NiSb
3.11.38Ullmannite
NiSbS
3.11.39Willyamite
(Co,Ni)SbS
Related Minerals - Dana Grouping):
2.8.16.1Mäkinenite
γ-NiSe

Other Names for Millerite

Synonyms:
ArchiseCapillary PyritesCapilloseHair PyritesNickel Pyrite
Trichopyrite
German names:
GelbnickelkiesHaarkiesMilleritTrichopyrit
Russian names:
Миллерит
Spanish names:
MilleritaTrichopyrita

Other Information

Health Warning:No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

References for Millerite

Reference List:Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged, 834pp.: 239-241.

Canadian Mineralogist (1974): 12: 248-252, 253-257.

Gaines, Richard V., H. Catherine, W. Skinner, Eugene E. Foord, Brian Mason, Abraham Rosenzweig (1997), Dana's New Mineralogy : The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana: 81.

Nesbitt, H.W., Schaufuss, A.G., Scaini, M., Bancroft, G.M., and Szargan, R. (2001) XPS measurement of fivefold and six-fold coordinated sulfur in pyrrhotites and evidence for millerite and pyrrhotite surface species. American Mineralogist: 86: 318-326.

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    Localities for Millerite

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