Bismuthinite is the primary ore of bismuth and is best identified by its heavy weight and characteristic lead-gray metallic color. It frequently forms long, striated acicular or bladed crystals within hydrothermal quartz veins, often looking very similar to stibnite.
Is this bismuthinite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch bismuthinite with a known reference. Bismuthinite sits at Mohs 2-2.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: lead-gray.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: metallic.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: gray, silver white, tin white.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: granular, massive, prismatic.
Often confused with
Bismuthinite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside bismuthinite
Minerals reported to co-occur with bismuthinite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Bi₂S₃
- Mohs hardness
- 2-2.5
- Density
- 6.78 g/cm³
- Streak
- Lead-gray
- Luster
- Metallic
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Granular, massive, prismatic
- Cleavage
- {010}, perfect and easy, {100} and {110}, imperfect
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Ore of bismuth
- Host rock
- Typically in low- to high-temperature hydrothermal vein deposits, in tourmaline-bearing copper deposits in granite, in some gold veins formed at high temperatures, and in recent volcanic exhalation deposits
Where rockhounds find bismuthinite
1 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Victoria mine, Dolly Varden district, Elko Co., USA
- A number of mines in the Goldfield district, Esmeralda Co., Nevada, USA
- Llallagua, Huanuni, Tazna, and Chorolque districts, Potosí, Bolivia
- Guanajuato, Mexico
- Moravicza and Băiţa (Rézbánya), Romania
- Schneeberg and Altenberg, Saxony, Germany
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: Typically in low- to high-temperature hydrothermal vein deposits, in tourmaline-bearing copper deposits in granite, in some gold veins formed at high temperatures, and in recent volcanic exhalation deposits. If you start seeing bismuth, aikinite, arsenopyrite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: granular, massive, prismatic. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in Connecticut. Start trip planning there.
Common questions
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Find bismuthinite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
