Bromargyrite Explained

Bromargyrite
Category:Halide minerals
Formula:AgBr
Strunz:3.AA.15
System:Isometric
Class:Hexoctahedral (mm)
H-M symbol (4/m 2/m)
Symmetry:Fm3m
Unit Cell:a = 5.7745 Å; Z = 4
Color:Yellowish, greenish brown, bright green
Cleavage:None observed
Fracture:Irregular/uneven, sub-conchoidal
Tenacity:Sectile
Luster:Adamantine, resinous, waxy
Streak:White to yellowish white
Diaphaneity:Transparent, translucent
Gravity:6.474
Opticalprop:Isotropic
Refractive:n = 2.253
Birefringence:δ = 0.000
References:[1] [2] [3]

Bromyrite or bromargyrite[4] is a natural mineral form of silver bromide found mainly in Mexico and Chile. Hardness is 1.5 to 2. Related are chlorargyrite and iodyrite.

It was first described in 1859 for an occurrence in Plateros, Zacatecas, Mexico where it occurred in a silver deposit as an oxidation product of primary ore minerals.[1] It occurs in arid environments along with native silver, iodargyrite and smithsonite along with iron and manganese oxide minerals.[3]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.mindat.org/min-783.html Mindat page for bromargyrite
  2. http://www.webmineral.com/data/Bromargyrite.shtml Webmineral page for bromargyrite
  3. http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/bromargyrite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
  4. Web site: Definition of BROMYRITE . 2023-01-20 . www.merriam-webster.com . en.