Bursaite

A variety of Minerals

What is Bursaite?

Bursaite is a sulfosalt of the lillianite family. It has the formula Pb5Bi4S11 and orthorhombic structure. Bursaite is named after Bursa Province, Turkey, where it was discovered. It is generally located in regions rich in sulfur and commonly occurs alongside other sulfosalts. Its areas of formation are usually those that were once volcanogenic because it is generally aggregated with other minerals under intense heating. It was officially delisted as a mineral in 2006, being cited as an intergrowth of two other sulfosalts.

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Bursaite Localities Map

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North ZoneCentral RidgeSouth Basin

Key Characteristics

Characteristics of Bursaite

Bursaite has a tabular, plate-like habit. It is composed of many prismatic crystals, which generally form along the [100] axis, intertwined with long, plate-like grains. The prismatic crystals can grow up to 4 mm in length, and can contain polycrystalline aggregates. Twinning is common in the crystal, usually in (001) planes. Although bursaite's color is usually gray, its weak pleochroism can give it a whitish-blue tinge, and its strong anisotropy yields colors ranging from blue to yellow. Many hand samples of bursaite appear to be nearly identical to the mineral lillianite. In a microscope, bursauite shows distinct high reflective power and oblique extinction. The reflectance values are Rγ' = ~43 and Rα' = ~38 (in nm). The birefringence is generally weak in air, but stronger when bursaite is immersed in oils. Bursaite has a hardness of 2.5 on the Mohs scale. It has a gray, metallic luster that appears white in polished sections. The mineral is also known to have good tabular cleavage along the (100) planes.

Formation of Bursaite

Like many sulfosalts, bursaite occurs in regions abundant in sulfur. Close to its discovery grounds, it commonly occurs in Uludag, Turkey, around a metamorphic scheelite deposit near Bursa. It is also associated with the sulfide veinlets around the Shumilovsk deposit in Russia, the volcanogenic massive Cofer deposit in Virginia, and the American Southwest. It also occurs Czech Republic, Lipari Islands, Mexico and Sweden. Bursaite commonly occurs alongside other sulfosalts, such as sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, bismuth and scheelite. It is usually formed in areas that were once volcanogenic, because of the general nature of sulfosalts and because bursaite is generally aggregated with other minerals under intense heat.

Composition of Bursaite

Bursaite's structure has not been well studied, and only basic structural information is known. Bursaite is an orthorhombic, dipyramidal mineral. Its symmetry is 2/m2/m2/m, space group Bbmm. It was once believed to be monoclinic due to its high reflective power and its oblique extinction. The mineral contains ionic bonding between its lead and sulfur sites. Given the mineral's plate-like habit, it is likely bonded in sheets. It has the unit cell parameters of a = 13.399(20), b = 20.505(10), c = 4.117(5) and Z = [2]. These numbers yield an axial ratio a:b:c = 0.3078:1:1.5331. The mineral displays strong pleochroism and weak anisotropy.