Samsonite (Size: 1mm x 1mm x 1mm) Locality: Samson Mine, St. Andreasberg, Harz, Germany — Photo: Christian Rewitzer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Samsonite
A silver-manganese-antimony sulfosalt forming slender radiating black prisms.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Samsonite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfosalt class, with the chemical formula Ag₄MnSb₂S₆.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group P2_1/n).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 2.5; specific gravity 5.51; Dark red streak; Metallic luster.
IMA symbol Ssn, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1910.
Very rare in a hydrothermal vein (St. Andreasberg, Germany).
It is found associated with Pyrargyrite, galena, dyscrasite, tetrahedrite, pyrolusite, quartz, calcite, apophyllite (St. Andreasberg, Germany).
The name refers to the occurrence in the Samson vein, St. Andreasberg, Germany.