Metallic inclusions of the extremely rare palladium mineral kotulskite from the Canadian locality of Vermilion Mine (Denison, Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada). — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kotulskite
Kotulskite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfosalt class, with the chemical formula Pd(Te,Bi)₂₋ₓ (x ≈ 0.4).
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P6_3mc). It is a member of the Nickeline structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 9.18; Metallic luster.
IMA symbol Ktu, IMA status: approved, named in 1963.
A minor accessory mineral, of primary or secondary hydrothermal origin, in many Pt–Pd-bearing Cu–Ni deposits in ultramafic rocks.
It is found associated with Sobolevskite, merenskyite, melonite, michenerite, moncheite, braggite, many other Pt–Pd minerals, chalcopyrite, bornite, pentlandite, pyrrhotite, pyrite.
The mineral was named to honor Vladimir Klement’evich Kotul’skii (1879–1949), Russian economic geologist and authority on Cu–Ni sulfide deposits, of the Mining Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia.