Mineral Many sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores; examples include sphalerite (ZnS), an ore of zinc, galena (PbS), an ore of lead, cinnabar (HgS), an ore of mercury, and molybdenite (MoS, an ore of molybdenum. Pyrite (FeS), is the most commonly occurring sulfide, and can be found in most geological environments. It is not, however, an ore of iron, but can be instead oxidized to produce sulfuric acid. Related to the sulfides are the rare sulfosalts, in which a metallic element is bonded to sulfur and a semimetal such as antimony, arsenic, or bismuth. Like the sulfides, sulfosalts are
Stephanite tetrahedrite, galena, sphalerite and pyrite. Localities which have yielded good crystallized specimens are Freiberg and Gersdorf near Rosswein in Saxony, Chañarcillo in Chile, and exceptionally Cornwall. In the Comstock lode in Nevada massive stephanite and argentite are important ores of silver. Stephanite Stephanite is a silver antimony sulfosalt mineral with formula: AgSbS It is composed of 68.8% silver, and sometimes is of importance as an ore of this metal. Under the name Schwarzerz it was mentioned by Georgius Agricola in 1546, and it has been variously known as "black silver ore" (German "Schwarzgultigerz"), brittle silver-ore ("Sprödglanzerz"), etc. The name stephanite