Volynskite is a rare silver bismuth telluride mineral typically found in hydrothermal gold-telluride deposits and rare-metal pegmatites. Collectors generally find it as metallic, lead-gray grains or small tabular crystals embedded within quartz or associated sulfides.
Is this volynskite?
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 volynskite with a known reference. Volynskite sits at Mohs 2.5-3, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: gray.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: metallic.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: lead gray.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: tabular crystals, massive, granular.
Often confused with
Volynskite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Volynskite leaves gray, Tetradymite leaves pale steel-gray.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Volynskite leaves gray, Hessite leaves light gray.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Volynskite leaves gray, Altaite leaves black.
Often found alongside volynskite
Minerals reported to co-occur with volynskite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- AgBiTe₂
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5-3
- Density
- 8.01 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Gray
- Luster
- Metallic
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Tabular crystals, massive, granular
- Cleavage
- One perfect, two imperfect
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector, Research
- Host rock
- As complex intergrowths with other tellurides in gold ores
Where rockhounds find volynskite
Classic worldwide localities
- Campbell mine, Bisbee, Cochise Co., Arizona, and the Golden Fleece mine, Lake City district, Hinsdale Co., Colorado, USA
- Zod deposit, 14 km east of Vardenis, Armenia
- Zhana-Tyube Au–Te deposit, northern Kazakhstan
- Kochbulak gold deposit, Chatkal-Kuramin Mountains, eastern Uzbekistan
- Ashley deposit, Bannockburn Township, Ontario, Canada
- Yokozuru mine, north Kyushu, Japan
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: As complex intergrowths with other tellurides in gold ores. If you start seeing tellurobismuthite, hessite, altaite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: tabular crystals, massive, granular. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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Find volynskite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
