THE MINERAL SARTORITE

Chemistry: Pb₃As₄S₉, Lead Arsenic Sulfide
Class: Sulfides
Subclass: Sulfosalts
Uses: Only as mineral specimens.
Specimens

Sartorite is another rare sulfide mineral from the famous quarry at Lengenbach, Binnental, Valais, Switzerland. Most of the more exotic minerals from this site are arsenic sulfides and sulfosalts like sartorite. Some of the rare minerals from here include: novakite, seligmannite, rathite, jordanite, smythite, wallisite, lengenbachite, bernardite, baumhauerite, arsenolamprite, liveingite, dufrenoysite, marrite, imhofite and hatchite to name a few. Sartorite is usually a steel gray mineral with a nice luster and striated acicular to prismatic crystals embedded in a dolomitic marble. It is a rare mineral and is only found at Lengenbach.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Color is a steel gray, lead gray to black.
Luster is metallic.
Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
Crystal System: Monoclinic; 2/m.
Crystal Habits include acicular to prismatic deeply grooved or striated crystals with a steep pinacoidal face; also in massive and granular forms.
Cleavage is good in one direction.
Fracture: Conchoidal.
Hardness is 3.
Specific Gravity is 5.1 (slightly heavier than average for metallic minerals)
Streak is dark brown.
Associated Minerals include dolomite, realgar and baumhauerite.
Notable Occurrences are limited to the type locality, the Lengenbach Quarry, Binnental, Valais, Switzerland.
Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, locality, lack of internal reflections, grooves and striations, associations, cleavage and density.