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Briartite mineral

Briartite is the copper-iron-germanium sulfide mineral species Cu2FeGeS4, listed as approved, IMA 1965-018, by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026. Francotte and colleagues' 1965 description used the broader historical formula Cu2(Fe,Zn)GeS4 and combined polished-section observations, powder X-ray diffraction and electron-microprobe analyses of natural material from Kipushi, with comparative Tsumeb chemistry. Its Fe-Zn variation and uncertain structural interpretation do not establish that every historical analysis belongs to the currently delimited Fe species. The dated IMA list separately recognizes zincobriartite, Cu2ZnGeS4, IMA 2015-094; zinc-rich historical material is not silently reassigned to this briartite record. The original describes small grains and intergrowths with other sulfides, including chalcopyrite, renierite and sphalerite, rather than a pure bulk ore feed. Its Table III column labels conflict with the accompanying prose, so individual assay rows are not imported as unambiguous specimen measurements. Briartite is distinct from germanium element, germanite, renierite and a mixed copper-zinc ore. These mineralogical observations establish neither a microbial recovery mechanism nor industrial extraction performance; no constituent-element criticality designation is inherited.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026; definitions on PDF page 1, Briartite row on page 31 and Zincobriartite row on page 241.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
  2. francotte1965: Francotte J, Moreau J, Ottenburgs R and Lévy C (1965). La briartite, Cu2(Fe,Zn)GeS4, une nouvelle espèce minérale. Bulletin de la Société française de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie 88(3):432-437. Complete six-page public reader; Figures 1-5, Tables I-IV, chemistry and structural limits on pages 435-436. DOI 10.3406/bulmi.1965.5876.
    https://www.persee.fr/doc/bulmi_0037-9328_1965_num_88_3_5876 (accessed 2026-10-12)
  3. handbook_briartite: Handbook of Mineralogy. Briartite, version 1, copyright 2001-2005 Mineral Data Publishing; one-page historical mixed Fe-Zn entry. Its broad formula is not substituted for the September 2026 IMA formula.
    https://handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/briartite.pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-12T03:59:00Z Codex (GPT-6; codex) create Created the current mineral identity from dated IMA authority and original mineralogical evidence, preserving historical Fe-Zn scope, conflicting table labels and limits on extraction claims.

Record source: data/records/briartite.yaml