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Argyrodite mineral

Argyrodite is the silver-germanium sulfide mineral species Ag8GeS6, listed by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026 as grandfathered, with 1886 as the original-description year rather than an IMA approval number. Ono and Sato's 1995 study identified natural argyrodite in fine-grained massive black ore from the Ezuri Kuroko deposit, Japan, using reflected-light microscopy and electron-microprobe analysis. Figure 3F shows the mineral with galena, covellite, chalcopyrite and bornite in barite; Table 2 gives a specimen analysis described as close to ideal Ag8GeS6, with minor Cu, Fe and As. This specimen observation does not establish uniform composition, bulk germanium grade, resource size or recovery yield. The authors' fluid-inclusion measurements concern sphalerite and their formation-temperature interpretation is not an argyrodite extraction assay. This natural species is distinct from synthetic lithium argyrodite electrolytes and from the separately recognized alburnite, Ag8GeTe2S4. Historical Te-rich argyrodite reports from Roşia Montană are not used here as interchangeable composition evidence: the 2014 alburnite description explicitly revisits the earlier interpretation. Handbook crystallographic citations to synthetic Ag8GeS6 are not treated as measurements of the Ezuri specimen. No microbial mechanism, industrial recovery performance or inherited constituent-element criticality designation is assigned.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026; definitions on PDF page 1 and Argyrodite and Alburnite rows. Argyrodite is on PDF page 14.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
  2. ono_sato1995: Ono S and Sato J (1995). Gold and silver ores from the Ezuri Kuroko ore deposits, Akita Prefecture, Japan. Journal of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology 90(8):268-279. Full original; Figure 3F on page 271, EPMA methods on page 272, section IV.5 and Table 2 on page 274, context on pages 275-278. DOI 10.2465/ganko.90.268.
    https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ganko/90/8/90_8_268/_article (accessed 2026-10-12)
  3. handbook_argyrodite: Handbook of Mineralogy. Argyrodite, version 1, copyright 2001-2005 Mineral Data Publishing; one-page entry, Chemistry and References. Reference 3 explicitly concerns synthetic Ag8GeS6.
    https://handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/argyrodite.pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
  4. tamas2014_boundary: Tămaş CG, Grobety B, Bailly L, Bernhardt H-J and Minuţ A (2014). Alburnite, Ag8GeTe2S4, a new mineral species from the Roşia Montana Au-Ag epithermal deposit, Apuseni Mountains, Romania. American Mineralogist 99:57-64. Page 57 Introduction, public author-posted text inspected for the historical interpretation only; alburnite measurements and figures are not imported into this record. DOI 10.2138/am.2014.4557.
    https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2014.4557 (accessed 2026-10-12)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-12T03:59:00Z Codex (GPT-6; codex) create Created the distinct natural mineral identity with original Ezuri microscopy and microprobe context; retained synthetic-material and historical alburnite boundaries without importing recovery claims.
2026-10-12T04:05:32Z Codex (GPT-6; codex) update Corrected the Handbook synthetic-study locator from reference 2 to 3 after independent finding F1 and issue 146; retained the initial review, CREATE history and original source assessment.

Record source: data/records/argyrodite.yaml