Metallic inclusions of the very rare Ni-Fe mineral shenzhaungite in a partially polished specimen that was used for analysis. From a third known locality: Sergeevskoye, Penzhina River, Penzhina Bay, Kamchatka Krai, Russian Federation. Analyzed specimen by SEM/EDS. Shenzhuangite is the Ni analogue of chalcopyrite. Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Shenzhuangite
Shenzhuangite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfide class, with the chemical formula NiFeS₂.
It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system (space group I-42d). It is a member of the Chalcopyrite structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 4.013.
IMA symbol Szh, IMA status: approved, named in 2017.
Found in shock melt veins less than 300 μm thick in a meteorite; in spherical heterogeneous, two-phase sulfide inclusions less than 10 μm in terrestrial tektites.
It is found associated with Taenite, forsterite, pyroxene, plagioclase glass (maskelynite), troilite (meteorite); troilite, glass (tektite).
The mineral was named to honor Professors Shangyue Shen (b. 1941) and Xiaoli Zhuang (b. 1961) who first discovered the Ni-rich variety of chalcopyrite in the Suizhou meteorite.