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Nickeline

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Prospect 24, Pöhla, Schwarzenberg District, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany
© Peter Haas

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Formula:
NiAs
System:HexagonalColour:Pale copper red
Lustre:MetallicHardness:5 - 5½
Name:From the German nickname for the ore miners called kupfernickel (copper nickel); after Old Nick and his mischievous gnomes, because the ore seemed to contain copper but yielded none.


Nickeline Group.

Classification of Nickeline

IMA status:Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"
Strunz 8th edition ID:2/C.20-20
Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:2.CC.05

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 8th edition ID:2.8.11.1

2 : SULFIDES
8 : AmXp, with m:p = 1:1
Hey's CIM Ref.:3.11.27

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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Physical Properties of Nickeline

Lustre:Metallic
Diaphaneity (Transparency):Opaque
Colour:Pale copper red
Comment:Tarnishes to Lead grey, greyish, or black
Streak:Pale Brownish black
Hardness (Mohs):5 - 5½
Tenacity:Brittle
Fracture:Conchoidal
Density (measured):7.784 g/cm3
Density (calculated):7.834 g/cm3

Crystallography of Nickeline

Crystal System:Hexagonal
Class (H-M):6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal
Space Group:P63/mcm (P63/m 2/c 2/m)
Cell Parameters:a = 3.602Å, c = 5.009Å
Ratio:a:c = 1 : 1.391
Unit Cell Volume:V 56.28 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:2
Twinning:On {1011} producing fourlings, possibly on {3141}
Crystal Atlas:
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Nickeline - {100}, {101}, {001}
Nickeline - Prismatic {110}

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X-Ray Powder Diffraction:
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Radiation - Copper Kα
Data Set:
Horizontal Axis: ° to ° Vertical Axis: % Source Data: Filtered Data: Peaks:
Data courtesy of RRUFF project at University of Arizona, used with permission.

Optical Data of Nickeline

Type:Anisotropic
Anisotropism:Very strong, light greenish yellow to slate-gray
Colour in reflected light:white with strong yellowish pink hue
Pleochroism:Strong
Comments:Whitish yellow-pink to light brownish pink.

Chemical Properties of Nickeline

Formula:
NiAs
Essential elements:As, Ni
All elements listed in formula:As, Ni
Common Impurities:Sb,Fe,Co,S

Relationship of Nickeline to other Species

Related to:
  • Nickeline Group
    • 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.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.20Millerite
    NiS
    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
    3.11.3Millerite
    NiS
    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
    3.11.28Rammelsbergite
    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

    Other Names for Nickeline

    Synonyms:
    Arsenical NickelCopper NickelKupfernickelKupfernickerKupfernikkel
    NiccoliteNickeliteRotnickelkies
    German names:
    ArsennickelNiccolitNickelinNickelit
    Russian names:
    Никелин
    Spanish names:
    NiccolitaNickelitaNiquel Rojo

    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 Nickeline

    Reference List:Zeitschrift für Kristallographie (1933): 84: 408.

    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.: 236-238.

    Internet Links for Nickeline

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  • Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project
  • American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database
  • Search for Nickeline in the Natural History Museum (London) online catalogue
  • Nickeline details from Handbook of Mineralogy (PDF)
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    Localities for Nickeline

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