A polished section containing the following 4 extremely rare palladium minerals: palarstanide, plumbopalladinite, polarite and atokite in a completely analyzed specimen by SEM/EDS. From: Noril'sk, Putoran Plateau, Taimyr Peninsula, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation. Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Polarite
An opaque yellow-white palladium-bismuth-lead intermetallic visible only under the microscope.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Polarite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfosalt class, with the chemical formula Pd(Bi,Pb).
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Ccm2_1).
Key properties: specific gravity 12.51; Metallic. Anisotropism: Slight; gray to pale brown in oil. R: (400) —, (420) —, (440) 55.4, (460) 56.8, (480) 55.9 luster.
IMA symbol Plr, IMA status: approved, named in 1969.
Found in hydrothermal Cu–Ni–Fe sulfide veins (Talnakh area, Russia).
It is found associated with Chalcopyrite, talnakhite, cubanite, stannopalladinite, paolovite, sobolevskite, sperrylite, cabriite, palarstanide, nickeloan platinum, sphalerite.
The name refers to its occurrence in the Polar Ural Mountains, Russia.