May 24 2014
Niningerite is a magnesium-iron-manganese sulfide mineral, first discovered in 1966 from the Indarch, St. Marks, Qingzhen. It is a member of the galena group.
The mineral was named after Harvey Harlow Nininger, of Sedona in Arizona, USA, for his contributions to meteoritics.
Properties of Niningerite
The following are the key properties of Niningerite:
- Cell Data
- Space Group: Fm3m (by analogy to synthetic)
- a = 5.17(2)
- Z = 4
- Crystal Data
- Cubic
- Point Group: 4/m 3 2/m
- As grains intimately intergrown with kamacite and troilite; grains may contain oriented exsolution lamellae of troilite, and minute grains of kamacite
- X-ray Powder Pattern: 2.601 (100), 1.8388 (60), 1.5010 (16), 1.1630 (14), 1.0617 (10), 3.004 (8), 1.3001 (8)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
Content 2 |
Content 3 |
| S |
43.4 |
46.9 |
44.45 |
| Fe |
27.0 |
15.6 |
38.72 |
| Mg |
18.3 |
23.5 |
16.84 |
| Mn |
6.5 |
11.6 |
- |
| Cr |
1.66 |
0.14 |
- |
| Ca |
1.28 |
0.39 |
- |
| Total |
98.14 |
98.13 |
100.00 |
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density) = 3.22 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Niningerite = 3.31 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PENiningerite = 12.23 barns/electron
U = PENiningerite x ρElectron density = 39.37 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.02
Boson index = 0.98 |
Radioactivity
|
Niningerite is not radioactive
|
How to Identify Niningerite
Niningerite is an opaque grayish mineral, having a metallic luster. It occurs as microscopic crystals, and it is generally found as inclusions in other minerals.
The hardness range of niningerite is 3.5 to 4.
Global Distribution
Niningerite is distributed in the following places:
- Indarch meteorite, Shusha, Naxcivan District, Azerbaijan
- Abee meteorite, Abee, Alberta, Canada
Occurrence of Niningerite and Useful Mineral Association
Niningerite occurs in less extensively metamorphosed enstatite chondrite meteorites.
The mineral is closely related to troilite and kamacite.
References