Melonite
Encyclopedia
Melonite is a telluride
of nickel
; it is a metal
lic mineral
. Its chemical formula is NiTe2. It is opaque and white to reddish-white in color, oxidizing in air to a brown tarnish.
It was first described from the Melones and Stanislaus mine in Calaveras County, California
in 1866, by Frederick Augustus Genth
.
Melonite occurs as trigonal crystals, which cleave in a (0001) direction. It has a specific gravity
of 7.72 and a hardness of 1-1.5 (very soft).
Telluride mineral
A telluride mineral is a mineral that has the telluride anion as a main component.Tellurides are similar to sulfides and are grouped with them in both the Dana and Strunz mineral classification systems.Examples include:* calaverite* hessite* rickardite...
of nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
; it is a metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
lic mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
. Its chemical formula is NiTe2. It is opaque and white to reddish-white in color, oxidizing in air to a brown tarnish.
It was first described from the Melones and Stanislaus mine in Calaveras County, California
Calaveras County, California
Calaveras County is a county located in the Gold Country of the U.S. state of California. Calaveras is the Spanish word for skulls; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga. As of the 2010 census, the county had a...
in 1866, by Frederick Augustus Genth
Frederick Augustus Genth
Frederick Augustus Ludwig Karl Wilhelm Genth was a United States chemist.-Biography:...
.
Melonite occurs as trigonal crystals, which cleave in a (0001) direction. It has a specific gravity
Specific gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...
of 7.72 and a hardness of 1-1.5 (very soft).