Kostovite

Kostovite
Exhibition of Kostovite in the National Natural History Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
General
Category	Telluride mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	AuCuTe4
IMA symbol	Ktv[1]
Strunz classification	2.EA.15 (10 ed) 2/D.16-10 (8 ed)
Dana classification	02.12.13.4
Crystal system	Orthorhombic
Crystal class	Pyramidal (mm2) H-M Symbol: (mm2)
Space group	Pma2
Identification
Color	Grayish white
Twinning	Fine lamellar
Cleavage	Distinct/good
Tenacity	Brittle
Mohs scale hardness	2 – 2.5
Luster	Metallic
Diaphaneity	Opaque
Specific gravity	7.94
Optical properties	Anisotropic
Pleochroism	Visible
References	[2][3][4][5][6]

Kostovite (IMA symbol: Ktv) is a rare orthorhombic-pyramidal gray white telluride mineral containing copper and gold with chemical formula AuCuTe₄.[2][3][4]

It was discovered by Bulgarian mineralogist Georgi Ivanov Terziev, who named it in honor of his professor Ivan Kostov (Иван Костов) (1913–2004).[7][8] In 1965 kostovite was approved as a new species by the International Mineralogical Association.[9] The type locality is Chelopech copper ore deposit, Bulgaria.[10] Small deposits have also been found in Kochbulak (Eastern Uzbekistan), Commoner mine (Zimbabwe), Kamchatka (Russian Far East), Ashanti (Ghana), Buckeye Gulch (Leadville, Colorado, US), Bisbee (Arizona, US),[11] Kutemajärvi (Finland), Coranda-Hondol (Romania), Glava (Sweden), Bereznjakovskoje (Southern Urals, Russia), Moctezuma (Sonora, Mexico), Panormos Bay (Tinos Island, Greece), Guilaizhuang Mine, Tongshi complex (Linyi Prefecture, Shandong Province, China), Kalgoorlie-Boulder City, (Goldfields-Esperance region, Western Australia, Australia).[12]

See also

• List of minerals named after people

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. Anthony, John W.; Bideaux, Richard A.; Bladh, Kenneth W.; Nichols, Monte C. (2005). "Kostovite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineral Data Publishing. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
3. "Kostovite". Mindat.org. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
4. Barthelmy, David (2014). "Kostovite Mineral Data". Webmineral.com. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
5. "Information about Kostovite". RRUFF Database.
6. "Kostovite (IMA 1965-002)". Mineralienatlas Lexicon.
7. Terziev, G. (1966). "Kostovite, A Gold-Copper Telluride from Bulgaria" (PDF). The American Mineralogist. 51: 29–36.
8. Hey, M.H. (1966). "Twenty-fourth list of new mineral names" (PDF). Mineralogical Magazine. 36 (276): 1140. Bibcode:1966MinM...36.1126H. doi:10.1180/minmag.1966.036.276.08.
9. "International Mineralogical Association: Commission on New Minerals and New Names" (PDF). Mineralogical Magazine. 36: 1143–45. 1968. doi:10.1180/minmag.1968.036.284.11.
10. "Information about Chelopech Au-Cu Mine, Chelopech, Sofiya Oblast (Sofia Oblast), Bulgaria". Mindat.org. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
11. "Kostovite". Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
12. Bonev, Ivan K.; Petrunov, Rumen; Cook, Nigel J.; Ciobanu, Cristiana L. (2005). "Kostovite and its argentian varieties: Deposits and mineral associations" (PDF). Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology (42): 1–22.

External links

• Gaines, Richard V.; Skinner, H. Catherine W.; Foord, Eugene E.; Mason, Brian; Rosenzweig, Abraham; King, Vendall (1997). Dana's New Mineralogy: The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana. New York, Chichester, Weinheim, Brisbane, Singapore, Toronto: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 136. ISBN 9780471193104.
• G. Van Tendeloo; S. Amelinckx (1986). "High-resolution electron-microscopic study of the modulated structure of kostovite". Acta Crystallographica. 42: 121–130. doi:10.1107/S0108768186098488.