| Patrónite | |
| Category: | Sulfide mineral |
| Formula: | VS4 |
| Imasymbol: | Pat[1] |
| Molweight: | 179.21 g/mol |
| Strunz: | 2.EC.10 |
| System: | Monoclinic |
| Class: | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Symmetry: | I2/c |
| Unit Cell: | a = 12.11 Å, b = 10.42 Å, c = 6.78 Å; β = 100.8°; Z = 8 |
| Color: | Lead-gray on fresh surfaces to gray-black after exposure to air |
| Habit: | Occurs as columnar crystal aggregates and in massive form |
| Cleavage: | Distinct columnar |
| Mohs: | 2 |
| Luster: | Metallic |
| Pleochroism: | Strong |
| Streak: | Black |
| Gravity: | 2.82 |
| Diaphaneity: | Opaque |
| References: | [2] [3] [4] [5] |
Patrónite is the vanadium sulfide mineral with formula VS4. The material is usually described as V4+(S22−)2.[6] Structurally, it is a "linear-chain" compound with alternating bonding and nonbonding contacts between the vanadium centers. The vanadium is octa-coordinated, which is an uncommon geometry for this metal.[7]
The mineral was first described in 1906 for an occurrence in the Minas Ragra vanadium mine near Junín, Cerro de Pasco, Peru. It was named for Peruvian metallurgist Antenor Rizo-Patron (1866–1948) the discoverer of the deposit.[3] [4] At the type locality in Peru it occurs in fissures within a red shale likely derived from an asphaltum deposit. Associated minerals include, native sulfur, bravoite, pyrite, minasragrite, stanleyite, dwornikite, quartz and vanadium bearing lignite.[4] It has also been reported from the Yushkinite gorge on the Middle Silova-Yakha River on the Paikhoi Range of the polar Urals of Russia and from the Tsumeb mine in Namibia.[3]