Vaesite mineral
Vaesite is the cubic NiS2 mineral species, distinct from millerite, polydymite, unresolved nickel-sulfide precursors, elemental nickel and mixed ores. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1945; that year is not a unique approval accession. The curated mechanism concerns a synthetic mineral-assigned component of laboratory precipitates. No nickel criticality designation or industrial deployment is inherited.
Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)
Vaesite-assigned particles in sulfate-reducing No Fe culture products
biomineralization
Microbial
Associated Organisms:
Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough (NCBITaxon:882)
Hildenborough cultures in the No Fe arm produced a minor vaesite-assigned component within mixed nickel-sulfide solids. The reported abiotic preparations lacked this component, but unmatched bulk chemistry and processing prevent assigning a unique microbial pathway or universal microbial necessity.
Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Mansor2019 Methods pp.3–4: the reported culture is Desulfovibrio vulgaris DSM 644, Hildenborough/ATCC 29579; current authority name is Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough. Anoxic modified metal toxicity medium contained lactate, sulfate, yeast extract, tryptone and HEPES, initially pH 7.2. NiCl2 and FeSO4 stocks supplied a nominal total of 500 micromolar Ni plus Fe across No Fe, 5:1, 1:1 and 1:5 Ni/Fe arms. No Fe means no intentionally added Fe stock, not a demonstrated trace-Fe-free medium. After 72 h pre-growth at 30 degrees C with shaking, 1% volume inoculum was transferred into 100 mL metal-amended medium; the actual mineral-incubation temperature and shaking rate are not restated separately. Biotic products were sampled after 6–25 days. XRD pellets were rinsed and dried on glass; TEM pellets underwent detergent, lysozyme and proteinase K treatment for 1 h at 45 degrees C, followed by washing, shipping and up to 1 h sonication. The abiotic comparison instead titrated 50 mL of 15 mM sodium sulfide at 2 mL/h into 50 mL double-strength medium, aged 5–36 days and harvested solids by filtration. This gives a nominal 7.5 mM final chemically added sulfide, not a measured biotic sulfide concentration. Final bulk pH was approximately 7.1 in biotic arms versus approximately 8.0–8.2 in abiotic arms; the arms are not matched for pH, sulfide delivery, sampling times or harvesting. These are laboratory salt-solution experiments, not treatment of an industrial waste or natural ore.
Mansor2019 Methods pp.3–4: the reported culture is Desulfovibrio vulgaris DSM 644, Hildenborough/ATCC 29579; current authority name is Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough. Anoxic modified metal toxicity medium contained lactate, sulfate, yeast extract, tryptone and HEPES, initially pH 7.2. NiCl2 and FeSO4 stocks supplied a nominal total of 500 micromolar Ni plus Fe across No Fe, 5:1, 1:1 and 1:5 Ni/Fe arms. No Fe means no intentionally added Fe stock, not a demonstrated trace-Fe-free medium. After 72 h pre-growth at 30 degrees C with shaking, 1% volume inoculum was transferred into 100 mL metal-amended medium; the actual mineral-incubation temperature and shaking rate are not restated separately. Biotic products were sampled after 6–25 days. XRD pellets were rinsed and dried on glass; TEM pellets underwent detergent, lysozyme and proteinase K treatment for 1 h at 45 degrees C, followed by washing, shipping and up to 1 h sonication. The abiotic comparison instead titrated 50 mL of 15 mM sodium sulfide at 2 mL/h into 50 mL double-strength medium, aged 5–36 days and harvested solids by filtration. This gives a nominal 7.5 mM final chemically added sulfide, not a measured biotic sulfide concentration. Final bulk pH was approximately 7.1 in biotic arms versus approximately 8.0–8.2 in abiotic arms; the arms are not matched for pH, sulfide delivery, sampling times or harvesting. These are laboratory salt-solution experiments, not treatment of an industrial waste or natural ore.
Curated Evidence Points:
Support
Source:
mansor2019
Results p.5, Table 2, Figure 1 and Figure 4a–b assign vaesite in the biotic No Fe products using small XRD reflections and selected-area electron diffraction of spheroidal and larger euhedral particles. Vaesite was not detected in the source's abiotic or Fe-added arms. This supports conditional culture-associated phase occurrence, not a quantitative fraction or a pure isolated nickel product.
Support
Source:
mansor2019_si
Annotated Figure 4b shows reflections near 3.25, 2.01 and 1.62 angstrom consistent with the Table S1 vaesite references; the companion Figure 4a annotation documents a vaesite-containing aggregate. These diffraction observations complement the small XRD features without quantifying the mixed solid or proving a reaction sequence.
Partial
Source:
mansor2019
Discussion pp.6–11 describes known abiotic routes to vaesite and proposes an acidic cellular microenvironment in this study. The proposed local pH was not measured, and bulk pH, sulfide addition and recovery procedures differ between the culture and abiotic comparisons. Nondetection in these specific abiotic preparations is not proof that biology is necessary for vaesite formation.
Partial
Source:
mansor2019
Methods pp.3–4, Table 2 and Figures 2–4: no independent bottle-replicate count or killed-cell, cell-free metabolite, pH-matched or sulfide-flux-matched comparison is reported. Table 2 n values count EDS analyses and the particle-size histograms count individual particles, not independent cultures. EDS is explicitly semi-quantitative; XRD mostly shows poorly crystalline mixtures. No phase-specific yield, isolated product purity, Ni recovery mass balance or long-term stability challenge is demonstrated.
Partial
Source:
mansor2019
Discussion pp.8–12 and Figures 9–11 propose acidic cell-surface microenvironments, secreted organics and altered nucleation/growth as explanations. Local pH, specific metabolites and enzymes were not directly measured in this experiment; Figure 9 is a proposed sequence and Figure 10 a literature-derived solubility model, not direct observations of a cell-local pathway. Preparation can affect phase identity: the authors observed later oxidation of some Fe-rich samples and analyzed grids within 24 h. Their short air-drying comparison does not establish that all phase formation preceded harvest. No industrial deployment or universal microbial requirement is inferred.
Context_only
Source:
dsm644
The DSMZ catalogue links DSM 644 to Hildenborough and ATCC 29579 under the current Nitratidesulfovibrio name. Together with NCBI strain entry 882 this grounds the reported strain label; it is not a genomic authentication of the inoculum or a separate precipitation experiment.
Sources & References
-
ima202609: IMA-CNMNC (September 2026). The New IMA List of Minerals. Definitions p.1; Vaesite row p.225: NiS2, G (grandfathered), original-description year 1945.
https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-14) -
mansor2019: Mansor, M., Winkler, C., Hochella, M. F. Jr. and Xu, J. (2019). Nanoparticulate Nickel-Hosting Phases in Sulfidic Environments: Effects of Ferrous Iron and Bacterial Presence on Mineral Formation Mechanism and Solid-Phase Nickel Distribution. Frontiers in Earth Science 7:151. DOI 10.3389/feart.2019.00151. Full primary PDF, Methods pp.3–4, Results pp.4–6, Figures 1–11, Tables 1–2 and Discussion pp.6–13.
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00151 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
mansor2019_si: Mansor et al. (2019), associated Supplementary Material, Table_1 DOCX. DOI 10.3389/feart.2019.00151.s001; Frontiers Figshare article 8323754, file 15598037. Nine annotated diffraction panels and Table S1.
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00151.s001 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
taxonomy_hildenborough: NCBI Taxonomy 882 — Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough, strain rank; historical Desulfovibrio vulgaris ATCC 29579 name retained as equivalent.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=882&mode=Info (accessed 2026-10-14) -
dsm644: DSMZ catalogue DSM 644 — Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris, Hildenborough; lists ATCC 29579, NCIMB 8303 and VKM B-1760. Current name and collection equivalence, not an independent authentication of the experimental inoculum.
https://www.dsmz.de/collection/catalogue/details/culture/DSM-644 (accessed 2026-10-14)
Curation History
| Timestamp | Curator | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-14T10:05:48Z |
codex (GPT-6) | CREATE | Created an evidence-backed mineral record from current IMA identity and full Mansor2019 primary study with its diffraction supplement; retained mixed-phase, abiotic, preparation, replication and mechanistic uncertainties. This shares one experiment with the other round68 nickel-sulfide owners. |
Record source: data/records/vaesite.yaml