Sulfide Minerals

The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, the arsenides, the antimonides, the bismuthinides, the sulfarsenides and the sulfosalts. Sulfide minerals are inorganic compounds.

Common or important examples include:

Sulfides:

• Acanthite Ag₂S, Chalcocite Cu₂S, Bornite Cu₅FeS₄, Galena PbS, Sphalerite ZnS, Chalcopyrite CuFeS₂, Pyrrhotite Fe_1-xS, Millerite NiS, Pentlandite (Fe,Ni)₉S₈, Covellite CuS, Cinnabar HgS, Realgar AsS, Orpiment As₂S₃, Stibnite Sb₂S₃, Pyrite FeS₂, Marcasite FeS₂, Molybdenite MoS₂

Arsenides:

• Nickeline NiAs
• Skutterudite (Co,Ni)As₃

Antimonides:

• Breithauptite NiSb

Tellurides:

• Altaite PbTe
• Calaverite AuTe₂
• Sylvanite (Au,Ag)Te₂

Sulfarsenides:

• Cobaltite (Co,Fe)AsS
• Arsenopyrite FeAsS
• Gersdorffite NiAsS

Sulfosalts:

• Pyrargyrite Ag₃SbS₃, Proustite Ag₃AsS₃, Tetrahedrite Cu₁₂Sb₄S₁₃, Tennantite Cu₁₂As₄S₁₃, Enargite Cu₃AsS₄, Bournonite PbCuSbS₃, Jamesonite Pb₄FeSb₆S₁₄, Cylindrite Pb₃Sn₄FeSb₂S₁₄