Microinclusions of two extremely rare palladium-platinum minerals, sobolevskite and insizwaite, from the famous locality of Norilsk (Oktyabr'skoye Deposit, Putoran Plateau, Eastern Siberia, Russian Federation) in a matrix of cubanite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite in a polished specimen, that was analysed. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sobolevskite
Sobolevskite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfide class, with the chemical formula PdBi.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P6_3/mmc). It is a member of the Nickeline structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 11.88.
IMA symbol Sov, IMA status: approved, named in 1973.
Found in massive and disseminated Cu–Ni–PGE minerals; in copper deposits in organic-rich limestones; along grain boundaries in silicates in layered intrusives.
It is found associated with Paolovite, sperrylite, altaite, taimyrite, silver, polarite, talnakhite, chalcopyrite, cubanite, mooihoekite, troilite, pyrrhotite, galena (Oktyabr mine.
The mineral was named to honor Petr Grigorevich Sobolevski (1781–1841), Russian metallurgist, who studied the platinum deposits of the Ural Mountains.