The mineral stibnite is a source of which metallic element?
Stibnite Stibnite Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral with the formula SbS. This soft grey material crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid antimony. The name is from the Greek στίβι "stibi" through the Latin "stibium" as the old name for the mineral and the element antimony. Stibnite has a structure similar to that of arsenic trisulfide, AsS. The Sb(III) centers, which are pyramidal and three-coordinate, are linked via bent two-coordinate sulfide ions. However, recent studies confirm that the actual coordination polyhedra of antimony are in fact SbS, with (3+4) coordination
Stibnite and makes the hair sprout.'” The 17th century alchemist Eirenaeus Philalethes, also known as George Starkey, describes stibnite in his alchemical commentary "An Exposition upon Sir George Ripley's Epistle". Starkey used stibnite as a precursor to philosophical mercury, which was itself a hypothetical precursor to the Philosopher's stone. Stibnite occurs in hydrothermal deposits and is associated with realgar, orpiment, cinnabar, galena, pyrite, marcasite, arsenopyrite, cervantite, stibiconite, calcite, ankerite, barite and chalcedony. Small deposits of stibnite are common, but large deposits are rare. It occurs in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Japan, China, Germany, Romania, Italy, France, England, Algeria, and Kalimantan, Borneo. In