Cattierite
# Cattierite

Cattierite $(CoS_2)$ is a cobalt sulfide mineral found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was discovered together with the nickel sulfide vaesite by Johannes F. Vaes, a Belgian mineralogist and named after Felicien Cattier, who was chairman of the board of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga.

The mineral belongs to the pyrite group, in which all minerals share the same building principle. The metal in the oxidation state +2 forms a sodium chloride structure together with the anion $S_2^{2−}.$ This formalism recognizes that the sulfur atoms in pyrite occur in pairs with clear S-S bonds.

It occurs with pyrite, chalcopyrite and members of the linnaeite – polydymite group in ore deposits in carbonate rocks. In addition to the type locality in the Katanga district it is reported from Gansberg, Black Forest, Germany; near Filipstad, Varmland, Sweden; Bald Knob, near Sparta, Alleghany County, North Carolina and in the Fletcher mine of Reynolds County, Missouri.

