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The system Ag-Sb-S from 600°C to 200°C

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Abstract

The system Ag-Sb-S was studied between 600°C and 200°C in evacuated silica glass tubes. Results from lower temperature runs require shifts in the stable tie-line configuration found by Barstad at 400°C. It is proposed that the configuration changes near 300°C, and that at 200°C the equilibrium assemblages correspond to those usually reported for minerals in ores. Most of the minerals of the system were synthesized. In addition, the synthetic phase Ag7SbS6 (antimony analogue of the arsenic mineral billingsleyite) is characterized, and the ease of its synthesis in the composition area bounded by argentite-pyrargyrite-sulfur suggests the probable existence of a mineral of this composition. The relatively common mineral stephanite (Ag5SbS4) was not formed as a synthetic product in the temperature range of this study. Combined DTA and X-ray data show that at 197±5°C stephanite decomposes in the absence of sulfur to form pyrargyrite plus argentite, whereas with excess sulfur the products are Sb-billingsleyite plus pyrargyrite. Pyrostilpnite (Ag3SbS3), the low temperature dimorph of pyrargyrite, is unstable above 192±5°C.

Abstract

Das ternäre System Silber-Antimon-Schwefel wurde zwischen 600° und 200°C untersucht und versucht, die Gleichgewichtszustände aller stabilen Phasen zu analogen natürlichen Mineralien in Beziehung zu setzen. Neben den Elementen wurden an binären Phasen Allargentum, Dyskrasit, Antimonit, Argentit bzw. Akanthit gefunden oder bestätigt. Auf dem pseudo-binären Schnitt Ag2S-Sb2S3 liegen Pyrargyrit und Miargyrit, während eine als Mineral unbekannte ternäre Phase Ag7SbS6 (entsprechend dem natürlichen As-Analogon Billingsleyit) nur bei höherem Schwefelangebot beständig ist. Hier nicht synthetisch dargestellte Silber-Antimon-Sulfosalze liegen vermutlich unterhalb der 200°C-Grenze. So ließ sich mittels Differential-Thermo-Analyse und röntgenographischer Bestimmungsmethoden der inkongruente Zerfall von Stephanit in Argentit und Pyrargyrit bei 197±5°C bestimmen. Pyrostilpnit (Ag3SbS3) ist nur unterhalb 192±5°C beständig.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, U.S.A.

    C. William Keighin

  2. Department of Geology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, U.S.A.

    R. M. Honea

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  1. C. William Keighin
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  2. R. M. Honea
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Keighin, C.W., Honea, R.M. The system Ag-Sb-S from 600°C to 200°C. Mineral. Deposita 4, 153–171 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208050

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