Grey crystals and crytsl aggregates of the very rare Cu-Hg sulphide mineral danielsite from the TL in Western Australia (Coppin Pool, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia). Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY 4.0
Danielsite
A silver-bearing sulfide-sulfosalt discovered in a pocket of supergene minerals in Western Australia near Coppin Pool.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Danielsite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfide class, with the chemical formula (Cu,Ag)₁₄HgS₈.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 2–2.5; specific gravity 6.541.
IMA symbol Dns, IMA status: approved, named in 1984.
Found in a gossan pod in a quartz vein, as a weathering product derived from other sulfides.
It is found associated with Anglesite, covellite, stromeyerite, chalcocite, cinnabar, other secondary lead and copper minerals.
The name refers to Dr. John L. Daniels (1931–), Geoscan Pty. Ltd., who collected the material in which the species was found.