Biehlite, from Tsumeb, Namibia — Photo: David Hospital - www.purple-sky-minerals.com · CC BY-SA 3.0
Biehlite
An exceptionally rare antimony-arsenic molybdate known from the Tsumeb mine.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Biehlite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the molybdate class, with the chemical formula Sb³⁺₂MoO₆.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group C2/c).
Key properties: specific gravity 5.23; White streak; Silky luster.
IMA symbol Bhl, IMA status: approved, named in 1999.
A rare secondary mineral from an oxidized zone in a dolostone-hosted hydrothermal polymetallic ore deposit.
It is found associated with Anglesite, wulfenite.
The mineral was named to honor Dr. Friedrich Karl Biehl (1887–?), mineralogist, Westfälische-Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany, who authored an early dissertation on Tsumeb minerals.