How to identify Native Antimony

To correctly identify Native Antimony (Antimony (Sb)), check each of these features in order. Many rocks and minerals look alike, so cross-reference multiple properties before deciding.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Color

   Overall color and any zoning or banding

   Tin-white to steel-gray, often tarnishing to dull gray or black.

2. 2

   Luster

   How the surface reflects light: metallic, vitreous, dull

   Metallic, sometimes dull on tarnished surfaces.

3. 3

   Texture

   Grain size and surface feel: coarse, fine, glassy

   Granular, massive, lamellar, or rarely as distinct rhombohedral crystals.

4. 4

   Crystal Form

   Shape of visible crystals or crystal faces

   Typically massive or granular. When crystallized, it forms rhombohedral crystals, often distorted or tabular.

5. 5

   Cleavage

   How it breaks: flat cleavage planes vs irregular fracture

   Perfect basal cleavage on {0001}.

6. 6

   Geological Environment

   The rock formation and setting where it occurs

   Low-temperature hydrothermal veins, often associated with stibnite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena, pyrite, quartz, and calcite. Also found in some pegmatites and as a secondary mineral in oxidized zones of antimony deposits.

Key Facts

Hardness

3-3.5 on the Mohs scale

Specific Gravity

6.61-6.72

Crystal System

Trigonal

Color

Tin-white to steel-gray, tarnishing to dull gray or black

Luster

Metallic

Transparency

Opaque

Fracture

Uneven to subconchoidal

Cleavage

Perfect basal on {0001}

Composition

Elemental Antimony (Sb)

Physical characteristics

• Crystal Habit: Massive, granular, lamellar, rarely rhombohedral crystals
• Cleavage Type: Perfect basal
• Fracture Type: Uneven to subconchoidal
• Tenacity: Brittle
• Luster Type: Metallic

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