Argyrodite

Argyrodite
General
Category	Sulfide mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	Ag8GeS6
IMA symbol	Agy[1]
Strunz classification	2.BA.35
Crystal system	Orthorhombic
Crystal class	Pyramidal (mm2) H-M symbol: (mm2)
Space group	Pna21
Unit cell	a = 15.149, b = 7.476 c = 10.589 [Å]; Z = 4
Identification
Color	Black, purplish tinge
Crystal habit	Pseudo-octahedra or pseudo-cubic, dodecahedra, cubes; radiating crystal aggregates, botryoidal crusts, or massive
Twinning	Pseudospinel law {111} penetration twins
Cleavage	Absent
Fracture	Uneven to conchoidal
Mohs scale hardness	2.5
Luster	Metallic
Diaphaneity	Opaque
Specific gravity	6.2-6.5
Optical properties	Weakly anisotropic
Pleochroism	Weak
References	[2][3]

Argyrodite is an uncommon silver germanium sulfide mineral with formula Ag₈GeS₆. The color is iron-black with a purplish tinge, and the luster metallic.

Discovered and named by Albin Weisbach in 1886,^[4] it is of interest as it was the material from which Clemens Winkler isolated the element germanium, 15 years after it had been postulated by Mendeleev. It was first described for an occurrence in the Himmelsfürst Mine, Ore Mountains, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany.^[3]

The Freiberg mineral had previously been imperfectly described by August Breithaupt under the name "Plusinglanz", and Bolivian crystals were incorrectly described in 1849 as crystallized brongniardite.^[5]

Isomorphous with argyrodite is the corresponding tin bearing mineral Ag₈SnS₆, also found in Bolivia as pseudocubic crystals, and known by the name canfieldite.^[5] There is also a related mineral, putzite, with composition (Cu_4.7Ag_3.3)GeS₆.

Argyrodite gets its name from the Greek words that loosely translate into "rich in silver".^[2]