Ullmannite

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title: "Ullmannite" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nickel-minerals", "antimonide-minerals", "sulfide-minerals", "cubic-minerals", "glances", "minerals-in-space-group-198", "minerals-described-in-1843"] description: "Nickel antimony sulfide mineral" topic_path: "general/nickel-minerals" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullmannite" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Nickel antimony sulfide mineral ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mineral"]

Field	Value
name	Ullmannite
category	Sulfide mineral
image	Ullmannite - Mt Narba - Sardinia.JPG
imagesize	260px
formula	NiSbS
IMAsymbol	Ull
strunz	2.EB.25
system	Cubic
class	Tetartoidal (23)
H-M symbol: (23)
symmetry	P213
unit cell	a = 5.91(2) Å; Z = 4
color	Steel-gray to tin white
twinning	Penetration twins about [110]
cleavage	Perfect on {001}
fracture	Uneven
tenacity	Brittle
mohs	5–5.5
luster	metallic
diaphaneity	Opaque
gravity	6.65–6.85
references
::

| name = Ullmannite | category = Sulfide mineral | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = Ullmannite - Mt Narba - Sardinia.JPG | imagesize = 260px | caption = | formula = NiSbS | IMAsymbol = Ull | strunz = 2.EB.25 | system = Cubic | class = Tetartoidal (23) H-M symbol: (23) | symmetry = P213 | unit cell = a = 5.91(2) Å; Z = 4 | molweight = | color = Steel-gray to tin white | habit = | twinning = Penetration twins about [110] | cleavage = Perfect on {001} | fracture = Uneven | tenacity = Brittle | mohs = 5–5.5 | luster = metallic | streak = | diaphaneity = Opaque | gravity = 6.65–6.85 | density = | polish = | opticalprop = | refractive = | birefringence = | pleochroism = | 2V = | dispersion = | extinction = | length fast/slow = | fluorescence= | absorption = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | other = | alteration = | references =

Ullmannite or Nickel glance (trivial name) is a nickel antimony sulfide mineral with formula: NiSbS. Considerable substitution occurs with cobalt and iron in the nickel site along with bismuth and arsenic in the antimony site. A solid solution series exists with the high cobalt willyamite.

Physical properties

Ullmannite is steel-gray to tin white in color with a metallic luster, has a Mohs hardness of 5 to 5.5 and a specific gravity of 6.65. Initially thought to be of two species, tetrahedral and cubic, it was later confirmed that both samples conformed to the 23 point group of the isometric crystal class and typically exhibits cubic, octahedral, or pyritohedral forms although euhedral crystals are rare.{{cite journal |last=Miers |first=A.H. |year=1891 |title=The Tetardohedrism of Ullmannite. |journal=Mineralogical Magazine |volume=9 |issue=43 |pages=211–213 |doi=10.1180/minmag.1891.009.43.03|bibcode=1891MinM....9..211M

Variance in its chemical composition has been shown to be responsible for loss of symmetry and variations in striation patterns.{{cite journal |last=Takeuchi |first=Y. |year=1957 |title=The Absolute Structure of Ullmannite, NiSbS. |journal=Mineralogical Journal |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=90–102 |url=http://www.journalarchive.jst.go.jp/english/jnlabstract_en.php?cdjournal=minerj1953&cdvol=2&noissue=2&startpage=90 |doi=10.2465/minerj1953.2.90 |bibcode=1957MinJ....2...90T |doi-access=free

Ullmannite crystals are usually less than 2 mm, however larger have been identified in especially antimony rich environments.{{cite journal |last=Zhu |first=Y. |author2=An, F. |year=2010 |title=Native Antimony in the Baogutu gold deposit( West Junggar, NW China): Its occurrence and origin |journal=Ore Geology Reviews |volume=37 |issue=3–4 |pages=214–223 |doi=10.1016/j.oregeorev.2010.03.005|bibcode=2010OGRv...37..214A

Occurrence

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Ullmannite-169966.jpg" caption="Ullmannite crystals from the Masaloni Mine, San Vito, Cagliari Province, Sardinia, Italy (size: 5.4 × 3.3 × 2.1 cm)"] ::

It is a member of the cobaltite group and forms a series with willyamite (). It occurs with nickeline, gersdorffite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, tetrahedrite and dyscrasite in hydrothermal deposits.

Principal localities are in Germany, it is also found in Austria, Australia, France, England, and Wales.

It was first described in 1843 for an occurrence in the Storch und Schöneberg Mine, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Specimens of ullmannite were found at Sarrabus, Sardinia, Italy in 1887. The crystals of the specimens from Sarrabus were described as hemihedral with parallel faces, whereas specimens from Lölling in present-day Austria were hemihedral with inclined faces.{{cite journal |last=Klein |first=C. |author2=P. Jannasch |year=1888 |title=Ullmannite from Lölling and from Sarrabus. (Jahrb. F. Min., 1887, ii, Mem., 169–173) |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Abstracts |volume=54 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldY4AAAAMAAJ&dq=Sarrabus&pg=PA31 |access-date=December 23, 2010}}

Origin of name

Ullmannite was named for German chemist and mineralogist, Johann Christoph Ullmann (1771–1821), one of the fathers of systematic mineralogy. Ullmann established a mineral collection (now the basis for the internationally renowned Museum of Mineralogy in Marburg) and authored Ein Systematisch-Tabellarische Übersicht der Mineralogisch einfachen Fossilien, one of the first attempts to provide a structured organization to the observed minerals of the day.

References

• Palache, C., H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) Dana’s system of mineralogy, (7th edition), v. I, 301–302.

References

1. Warr, L.N.. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine.
2. [http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/ullmannite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy]
3. [http://webmineral.com/data/Ullmannite.shtml Webmineral data]
4. [http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=4086&ld=1&pho= Mindat with location data]
5. "Geographie".

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