Altaite

Altaite
Silvery veins and flecks of altaite throughout the matrix from the Hilltop Mine, Organ District, Doña Ana County, New Mexico (size: 3.5 × 2.9 × 1.9 cm)
General
Category	Telluride mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	PbTe
IMA symbol	Alt[1]
Strunz classification	2.CD.10
Crystal system	Isometric
Crystal class	Hexoctahedral (m3m) H-M symbol: (4/m 3 2/m)
Space group	Fm3m
Identification
Formula mass	334.8 g/mol
Color	tin white to yellowish white; tarnishing to bronze yellow
Crystal habit	include cubic and octahedral crystals; but much more commonly found in massive and granular forms
Cleavage	perfect in three directions forming cubes
Fracture	Uneven
Mohs scale hardness	2.5 – 3
Luster	metallic
Streak	Black
Specific gravity	8.2 – 8.3
References	[2][3]

Altaite, or lead telluride, is a yellowish white mineral with an isometric crystal structure. Altaite is in the galena group of minerals as it shares many of properties of galena. Altaite has an unusually high density for a light-colored mineral. Altaite and other rare tellurides are classified in the sulfide mineral class (Dana classification).

Altaite was discovered in 1845 in the Altai Mountains. Besides these mountains altaite can also be found in Zyryanovsk, Kazakhstan; the Ritchie Creek Deposit in Price County, Wisconsin; the Koch-Bulak gold deposit in Kazakhstan; Moctezuma, Mexico; and Coquimbo, Chile among other locations.

See also

• List of minerals

References

1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
2. Mindat data with locations
3. Webmineral data