Lorándite [SEP] named after
of AsS tetrahedra interconnected by thallium atoms, and can be synthesized in the laboratory.
History.
Lorándite was first discovered at the Allchar deposit, near Kavadarci, Macedonia in 1894 and named after Loránd Eötvös, a prominent Hungarian physicist.
Distribution.
Apart from the Allchar deposit in Macedonia, lorandite is also found at the Dzhizhikrut Sb–Hg deposit in Tajikistan and at the Beshtau uranium deposit, near Pyatigorsk, northern Caucasus Mountains, Russia. As an ore mineral, it is encountered at the Lanmuchang Hg–
Lorándite
Lorándite is a thallium arsenic sulfosalt with the chemical formula: TlAsS. Though rare, it is the most common thallium-bearing mineral. Lorandite occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal associations and in gold and mercury ore deposits. Associated minerals include stibnite, realgar, orpiment, cinnabar, vrbaite, greigite, marcasite, pyrite, tetrahedrite, antimonian sphalerite, arsenic and barite.
The mineral is being used for detection of solar neutrino via a certain nuclear reaction involving thallium. It has a monoclinic crystal structure consisting of spiral chains