Black metallic crystal aggregate of the rare copper telluride weissite associated to also rare minoritary idaite from Winston, Sierra County, New Mexico, United States of America. Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Weissite
A copper telluride — hexagonal plates of hardness 3.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Weissite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfide class, with the chemical formula Cu₂₋ₓTe.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P3m1).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3; specific gravity 6; Black streak; Shiny metallic luster.
IMA symbol Wst, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1927.
Found in hydrothermal veins with other tellurides.
It is found associated with Pyrite, tellurium, sylvanite, petzite, rickardite, sulfur (Colorado, USA); gold, calaverite, krennerite (Kalgoorlie, Australia).
The name refers to Louis Weiss, owner of the Good Hope mine and discoverer of rickardite.