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American Mineralogist, Volume 60, pages 559-565, 1975
Carlinite, TlrS, a New Mineral from Nevada
Anrsun S. Reorxn
U.S. Geological
Suruey,Menlopark, Califurnia94025
AND FRANK W. DrcrsoN
Department of Geology, Stanford Uniuersity
Stanford, California 94305
Abstract
Carlinite,TlrS, occursas small subhedralto anhedralgrainswith fine-grainedquartz and
hydrocarboncompoundsin carbonaceous
limestonesexposedin the east pit of ihe Carlin
mine, Nevada.Freshcarliniteis dark gray with a bright metallicluster and a dark gray
to
black streak' Carlinite rapidly oxidizesin air, causingexposedsurfacesto become
dull and
darker in color' The crystallographic
parametersof carliniteare:rhombohedral,spacegroup
R3, a -- 12.12+ 0.01A, c : 18.175+ 0.005A, z = 27, cer volume : 2310.i *
o.o Ai.
Carlinite displaysperfect(0001)cleavage,an imperfectprismaticcleavage,and hackly fracture.The strongestX-ray diffractionpeaksand relativeintensitiesare:3.010A, Loo1;2.igo
A,
33; l-749A, zo;z.ozoA, 28. Powderid carlinitetendsto showextremepreferredorientation
because
of the perfectbasalcleavage.
Vickershardnessis 23.5* 2.0 kg/mmr;Mohs hardness,
l;_density,
8.1 + 0.2 g/cms(meas),8.55
g,/cms(calc).In reflected
light, carliniteis_..galena
white" with a faint bluishcast,weaklybireflectant,and moderatelyanisotropic,with polarization colors that rangefrom brownish-grayto bluish-gray.Reflectances
in air are: Rooo,-=
40.5- 42.0;fiurr* = 39.2- 40.6;Rare,: 38.8- 40.1andRoro,-:39.6 - 41.3.Carliniteis
essentially
pureTlrS;microprobeanalysisyieldedrl : g2.g3and s : 7.Ij, in wt percent.The
mostabundanttraceelement,by emissionspectrographic
analysis,is As at levelslessthan 100
ppm. The new mineral is namedafter the Carlin gold depositin which it was
discovered.
Introduction
bearing rocks which contain reducing substances,
such as hydrocarbons,and which also have a low
A new mineral,carlinite,with compositionTlrS,
arseniccontent. SubsequentX-ray and microprobe
was discovered at the Carlin deposit, northern
examinationof heavymineralconcentrates
from carEureka County, Nevada, as an outgrowth of in_
bonaceous, high-thallium, low-arsenic, silicified
vestigations
of thegenesis
of epithermalgold deposits limestonefrom the Carlin
depositdemonstratedTlrS
in Nevada and Utah (Radtkeand Dickson, 1975).
to be present.
SomeCarlin-typegold depositspreviouslyhad been
The Carlin gold deposit is the largest and best
reportedto containabnormallylargeamountsof dis_
known of the disseminated,replacement-type
gold
persedthalliumin unknownforms(Weissberg,
1969; deposits.The mineralTlzSis named..carlinite"after
Radtke et al, 1972;Radtke, Dickson, and Rytuba,
the depositin whichit wasfound.The mineralname
1974); however, only at the Carlin mine have
and designationasa newmineralhavebeenapproved
thallium-bearingmineralsbeendescribed.Thesein_
by the Commission of New Minerals and New
clude lorandite,TlAsS, (Radtkeet at, 1973),and or_
Mineral Names of the International Mineralogical
piment,AsrS3,that contains0.1 to 0.35 wt percent
Association.
thallium in solid solution (Radtke et at, 1974).
Type material is depositedin the SmithsonianInCrystallineTlrS, synthesized
during studiesof the stitution (U.S. National Museum), Washington,
systemTlrS-AsrS,in the HydrothermalLaboratory D. C., and in the Epithermal
Minerals Collection,
at StanfordUniversity,haspropertiesconsistentwith Departmentof Geology,
Stanford University,Stanits possibleoccurrenceas a mineral in thallium_ ford. California.
559
A, S. RADTKE, AND F. W. DICKSON
like carbon compounds apparently moved into the
mineralized rocks along permeablezonesduring the
Carlinite occurs as small grains randomly scattered
hydrothermal episode (Radtke and Dickson, 1975)'
through black brecciated fragments of carbonaceous
No other hydrothermally deposited sulfide
limestonein shearzonesexposedin the eastpit of the
minerals were found with carlinite in the samples
Carlin gold deposit.The geology of the mine and the
samplelocation are shown on the geologicmap of the
Cariin deposit by Radtke (1973). The samples that
contain carlinite come from the 6440 bench, at an approximate elevation of 6445feet, at mine coordinates
2 3 , 0 5 0N . , 1 9 , 9 0 0E .
Gold mineralization at the Carlin deposit affected
carlinite.
at least the upper 300 meters of siliceous, argillaceous,dolomitic limestonesof the Silurian Roberts
Physical and OPtical ProPerties
dissolutions
Hydrothermal
Formation.
Mountains
Carlinite occurs as small subhedral to anhedral
solved calcite and lesser amounts of dolomite, and grains ranging from about 0.005 mm to 0'5 mm in
Jiameter. Most grains are irregular and slightly
rounded with a few grains showing poorly defined
rhombohedral and tabular forms (Fig. l)'
The new mineral has perfect(0001)cleavageand an
imperfect prismatic cleavage or fracture' Vickers
haidness of carlinite, determined with a Leirz
hardnessindentor using a 5O-gramload' ranged from
these elementsto occur in disseminatedgold deposits
20.1 to 23.8 and averaged23.5kg/mm'(5 determinaof the western United States'
tions); the hardness of synthetic TlrS, measured
The limestonesof the Roberts Mountains Forma- similarly, ranged from 22.6 to 24.8 and averaged24'5
tion at the Carlin deposit normally contain about 0'3 kg/mm; (5 determinations)'The averagehardnessof
wt percent organic carbon, but the rocks which con- both carlinite and synthetic TlzS is about 1 on the
tain carlinite have as much as 6 percent organic Mohs hardnessscale.The mineral is soft and deforms
carbon (A. S. Radtke, unpublished data)' B' J' easily. This, together with the perfect basal cleavage,
Scheiner of the U.S. Bureau of Mines (oral com- introduces difficulties in grinding; we were not able to
munication, 1974)reported that organic compounds prevent strong preferred orientation in the powdered
in such high carbon material were mostly mixtures of material. The density of carlinite, measured with a
hydrocarbons and "humic acid." These petroleum- Berman balance, is 8.1 t 0.2 g cm-3; the calculated
densityis 8.55 g cm-'. Ketelaar and Gorter (1939)
reporied a density for syntheticTLS of 8'39 g cm-''
Differential thermal analysis of carlinite showed
Occurrence
I mm
Frc. L Carlinite from the Carlin gold deposit (opaque grains), with
some quartz (transparent gralns)'
Carlinite is dark gray with metallic luster, but
fresh surfacesbecome darker gray to black, even dull
or earthy, becauseof surfaceoxidation. The streak of
fresh carlinite is dark gray to black' In reflected light
in air, carlinite is galenawhite with a faint bluish cast'
Bireflectanceis generally weak but is slightly stronger
along grain boundaries. Carlinite is moderately to
distinctly anisotropic with polarization colors vary-
CARLINITE
T l s t - e l . P h y s i c a l P r o p e r t i e so f s y n t h e t i c T l r S
( Compiled by Trotman- Dickenson, I 973 )
Property
Test-s 3. X-ray Powder. Diffraction Data for Carlinite and
SyntheticTlrS
Carlinite
Value
Density
Melting Point
Heat of Fusion
^Y
8.39 e/Dr
hkx.
448.50C
3 kcal/no1e
(25oc)
-23.2
AGfo (25oc)
kca!/mo1.e
-22.39
Electrlcal
Conductivity
At melting point
Ar 7710c
Solubility,20oC
In rrater
In 0.02 M H2S0q
(1.12)
kcal/nole
1.75 ohn-]cn-I
33.3 ehr-I"r-l
0.2I5g T12s/1iter
1.4519 T12S/1iter
Reflectivity data for carlinite and synthetic TlrS in
air are given in Table 2.
Crystallography
X-ray powder diffraction data for carlinite and
To prevent the rapid oxidation and the formation
of coatingsof crystallinealterationproductson the
surfaces
of powderedTlrSgrains,thesamples
of both
carlinite and synthetic TlrS were ground under
acetonein an agatemortar. The suspension
wasthen
sedimentedon glassplatesunder acetonethat con..Duco.'cetaineda smallamountof acetone-soluble
39,6-4L.3
39.8-41.1
546
38,8-40.1 39,2-40.6
3E.6-40.0 39.3-40.8
I***
3 ,491
3,497
3.503
3
3.43sJ
3.029.)
3 ,O29t
3,029)
3.43r
3.433
9
3.030
1000
205
214
131
3t2
2.988
2.988
2 . 8 73
2.771
116
223
t25
401
ro7
042
2. 709J
2.709)
2.680
2.596
2.520\
2.s20)
r34
321
027
232
2.386
2.327\
2.327.)
306
410
315
404
0r8
2.2901
2.290)
2 . 2 72
2.272
2.220
217
226
413
045
324
2.Ll2
2.I42
2.r42
2.I27
2.L27
208
05r
502
009
330
2.084
2,084
2.O45
2.o1eJ
2.Or9)
n5
tii
It:,
11e
11i
;ii
309
650
dhwA
300
015
o24
006
303
220
t t?i;
470
obselved**
4.543
4 .283
4.I70
3.875
3.635
llt
;rii
(nD)
I***
dnktA
T125
202
113
104
2r1,
L22
X-ray powder diffraction data for carlinite were
refinedand the unit cell dimensionsweredetermined
wavelength
observed**
9.087
6 .869
6.058
6.058
5.040
407
Phase
calculated*
,9
qhkt^
Synthetic
101
oI2
003
lt0
021
ment.
Carlinite
Synthetic Tt2S
561
229
336
603
520
40.5-42.O
39.8_4L.1 2 . r , L O
238
3.030
1000
2.712
2,7t0
5
2.520
3
2.323
4
2.290
2.292
25
2,O20
2.Or9
39
L.973
3
I .919
4
2,007
1.e74
r
o71l
r.937
r.937
1.el6.l
I . 9 r6 J
I .905
L.874
1. 8 4 5
r.918
r.845
r.827
r . 8 17 ]
r.8L7)
I . 7e1J
r.79LJ
L.765
r . tae\
r.74e)
1. 580.)
r.6801
1 . 6 8 0|
1.580J
1.6s2.|
L.652l
3
1.831
2
1.819
2
l- 792
1.792
t2
L.749
|,749
33
r .681
I .683
L.654
L.652
A. S. RADTKE, AND F. W. DICKSON
562
that synKetelaarand Gorter (1939)established
group
R3, and
with
space
theticTlzSis rhombohedral
the
:
between
agreement
27. Becauseof the close
Z
those
of
and
carlinite
crystallographicparametersof
Gorter
and
Ketelaar
synthetic TlrS reported by
1te:e), carliniteis assumedto be isostructuralwith
syntheticTLS. The structuremay be regardedas a
arrangementof
distorted hexagonalclosest-packed
interstices
octahedral
the
which
in
thallium atoms,
are ocatoms
thallium
planes
of
pairs
of
between
atoms.
cupiedby sulfur
Tnare3, Continued
Synthetlc
CarliniEe
hkr
dtwL
4tw|
0 1.1r
057
0 . 0 .1 2
4t9
606
440
r..632.l
r.632J
r.51sl
1.515(
1 . 5 1 {4
r.514)
4.0.10
428
35r
3 .0 . 1 2
710
r .4e4)
1 . 4 9 14
r.494)
r. 390\
1.390J
0 . 5. 1 0
348
529
633
4. L . L 2
716
1.3741
L.374)
r.2e2I
t,292)
1. 263'l
r.253)
0.0.15
3.3.I2
449
636
550
I . 2r2l
L.2r2l
L.2r2l
r.2r2l
r.2r2)
1 . 6. 1 0
46L
1.2o1l
1 .2 0 U
1.1e3..]
r . 1 9 3I
1. l e 3 J
547
642
Obsetved**
-I***
observed**
Calculated*
T125
I***
d,, ^L
l3
1.634
r.633
1.513
1.514
r.491
1.490
1 .390
1.388
2
1.372
|.293
3
r.262
2
r ,212
10
1.198
r i374
3
7.261
4
L.2L2
13
1.196
22
13
1.194
3 . 0. 1 5
6.0,12
119
903
820
I .1451
r . r + sI
r. r+sI
t .t+s)
r,146
1.r47
5 . 4. 1 0
r.88
561
1.080.I
1.080J
0.9rs6
1.081
L.079
I7
o.9t57
0.9155
22
1 .3 .1 9
3 , 4, r 7
10.0.10
488
49r
o.sosrl
o.soez
I
0.9088
0.9088
9
0.9053
0.9053
L3
0.8984
0.8985
9
0.8889
0. 8889
I1
I-145t
0 . 9 0 8 7/
0 . e 0 8 7I
0 . 9 0 8 1)
0.1.20
3 .5 .1 6
1.11.2
4.O.L9
9 . 2 .r 0
0.9054)
o . e o s 3)
0.9053J
0. 8987'f
0.8986J
1 0 .3 . 1
0.88e0)
0 . 8 8 9 0|
0.8889J
*A11 calculared
i
hkl,'s
are
Listed
lndexed,
fot
L.
4kLZl.745
rndlces and d(Calc)
A11 observed
froo
lhe
fokZ's
ChemicalComPosition
Carliniteis TlrS with only low levelsof otherconstituents.Resultsof quantitativechemicalanalysesof
three grains done with the electron microprobe,
togetherwith the analyticalconditionsused' are
emissionspectroshownin Table4. Semiquantitative
graphic analysisof a compositesampleof several
large hand-pickedgrains of carlinite show that
the mineral may contain small amountsof arsenic
but at an abundanceof (100 ppm As (Table5).
Synthesis
Synthetic carlinite can be made by reacting
elemental thallium and sulfur in stoichiometric
proportions in sealed evacuatedpyrex tubes at
rangingfrom 200'C to 400oC(Carstantemperatures
jen, 1867).OthershavepreparedTlzSby reactingTI
of H, (Ketelaarand Gorter,
and S in an atmosphere
Tesr-n4. MicroprobeChemicaiAnalysesof Carlinite
leas!-
flp2ZO.AaAS
conPuter
of X-ray powder data using the digltal
Equare6 analysis
piogtan of ApPle@n and E:ans (1973); and a hexagonal cell wiEh
=
=
e
A
.
18,175
o
L2,I2 and
Cu radiation;
Ni-filteied
are:
**X-ray aliffractogEtet
condltions
scanned at 10
standald;
CuKa = 1.54178 X; Sioz used as internal
per
minule.
2g
assignof 1000 Eo Pemit
***SEr;nge6E line is a651gned inten6ity
of other lines'
lntenslties
pent;f
larger nunbers as the relative
weight
Grain No.
Tl-
I
2
J
92.9s
93.14
92.69
92.93
Percent
S
7,24
7, 7 9
7, O 7
7.r7
Total
100.19
100.33
99.76
100.09
Ave.
by the use of the cell parameter least-squares
programof Applemanand Evans(1973).The rhom100.00
7. 2 7
9 2 . 73
T12S
:
bohedral unit cell dimensionsfor carlinite are a
A; and V :
18.175+0.005
A; .
12.12+O.Or
(1) Thallir'rn'
Mg charactercondltions:
2310.5t0.6 A'. The cell parameterscomparewell Analytical
T1-2S
kV, synthetic
J-8
crystal'
A.DP
line,
istic
:
J-ine' ADP
with the values of a : |2.2OLO.O7A and c
Kd characteristLc
standard; (2) sulfur,
A for syntheticTlzSreportedby Ketelaar c r y s t a l , 1 8 k V , s y n t h e t i c T 1 2 S s t a n d a r d '
18.17+0.06
and Gorter(1939).
CARLINITE
563
developmetallichemispherical
singlecrystalsof a
lighterdark-graycolor with one setof parallelfaces,
creatingthe appearance
of rounddomeswith circular
steps(Fig. 2).
Carlinite precipitatesfrom alkaline solutionsof
thallous salts on reactionwith HrS (Reuter and
Goebel,1953;Pascal
, 196l),but caremust be taken
to excludeoxygen.Fine, reactive,oxygen-freeTl2S
canbe madeby reactingthalliumethoxidein ethanol
solution,with dry HrS (Brauer,1963).
Commerciallyavailable"Tl2S" that we have ex_
aminedhasbeenpoorlycrystalline
and impure.Some
of the impuritiesare capableof developinghigh gas
pressures
in closedtubesat high temperatures.
Cau_
tion shouldbe exercised
in usingcommercial
material Ftc. 2. Crystalline synthetic TIS produced by slow cooling of
melt. Note that some small droplets formed as single crystals
for experimental
purposes.
bounded incompletely by crystal faces.
ChemicalBehavior
Carlinite has the highest reported solubility in solids in the system Tl-S have not been studied
aqueoussolution of any naturallyoccurringheavy systematically.Compounds with various Tl/S ratios
metal sulfide, 215 ppm TlrS at 20oC and I bar have been characterized: TlrS, Tl4Ss,TlS, TlSr, and
(Kivalo and Kurkela, 1959; Trotman-Dickenson,TlrS, (Hahn and Klinger, 1949;Lee, l97l). Carstan1973).Carlinitereactswith water,as follows:TlrS + jen (1867), who first studied TlrS, prepared an
HrO : 2Tl+ + HS- + OH-. Therefore,
a solution amorphous solid with the composition Tlrsa that
saturatedwith TlrS is basic,with a calculatedpH of decomposed on heating in uacuo to TlrS plus S.
about 10.7.The alkalinereactionof TlrS with water
Carlinite oxidizes rapidly on exposure to the atresembles
the reactionsof NarS or KrS, in keeping mosphere;oxidation on polished surfacestakes place
with the tendencyof thallouscompoundsto resemble during microscopicexamination over a matter of 30
alkali metal compounds in chemical behavior minutes. Carlinite grains up to 0.2 mm in diameter,
(Songina,1964).TlrS solubilityis higherin acidsolu_ separatedfrom the host rock and kept in a glassvial
tions;for example,a solutionO.O2M/l in HrSOocon- at room conditions for 3 months, oxidized comtains1,451ppm Tl,S (Tablel). The reactionwith H+ pletely.
is: Tl,S + 2H+: H,S + 2Tl+.
The oxidation of TlrS has been studied by several
PhaserelationsbetweenTlrS and othercrystalline workers (Fentress and Selwood, 1948; Reuter and
Teslt
5 Semiquantitative Emission Spectrographic
"""ltr", "f
Element
C".ttrfu
Weight
percent
Fe
Ag
As
Co
0. 001
0. 0001
< 0 .0 1
0. 0002
Cu
Ni
T1
TI
0. 0003
0. 0001
0.0002
>50,
Analysis
of several large grains of carlinite.
Lsought buE not found:
Al, Au, B, Ba, Be, Bi,
Ca, Cd, Ce, Cr, Eu, Ga, ce, Hf, In, K, La,
L1, MC, Mo, l4n, Na, Nb, p, pb, pd, pt, Re,
s", Si, Sn, sr, Ta, Te, Th, U, v, w, y,'
!9,
Yb, Zn, Zr.l
Goebel, 1953).Lee (1971) summarizedthe reactions
involved. The reaction with O, at room temperature
proceeds stepwise, and various oxides and sulfuroxygen compounds are produced. According to Lee
(1971)the reactionsthat are most likely in the oxidation of carlinite under natural conditions are: first, 2
TlrS + 2 02 - TlrSrOB* TlrO; and second,TlrO +
Oz - TlzOe. Given sufficient time, under dry conditions the overall reaction would be: 2 TlrS * 3 02 TlrSrOa + Tl2Os. With water present, thallous
thiosulfate degrades according to the reaction:
Tl2SrOa* HrO- TlrSO4 + HrS. Thallous sulfate,
thiosulfate, and oxide are more soluble than Tl2Or;
therefore in nature, where oxidation takes place in
contact with aqueous solutions, they would tend to
be leached,leaving TlrO3.A rare mineral, avicennite,
with a composition of 7 TlrOr.FqO, has been
reported from Russia (Karpova et al, 1958);it is not
564
A. S. RADTKE, AND F. W. DICKSON
poor, Tl-bearing solutions encounteredS-bearing
solutions cannot be ruled out. After carlinite was
deposited,it could not have beenexposedvery long
to the action of flowing water without dissolving'
Therefore,the existenceof carliniteat Carlin attests
with which carlinite grains were
to the effectiveness
solutions,or possibly,to the
aqueous
protectedfrom
since formation.
lapsed
has
that
short time
rapidly oxidizes
carlinite
earlier,
As mentioned
and exposedto
rocks
host
the
from
when removed
is completely
mineral
the
rocks
host
the
In
air.
GeochemicalImPlications
as 6 percent
as
much
containing
in
a
matrix
enclosed
as reducing
act
which
compounds,
carbon
Thallium commonly accompaniesarsenic, an- organic
of TlzS.
prevent
the
oxidation
which
gold
and
agents
timony, and mercuryin Carlin-typeepithermal
deposits(Weissberg,1969; Radtke and Dickson,
Acknowledgments
1974).Only at the Carlin depositis thallium known
We thank Dr. CharlesM. Taylor, Mr. John Slack,and Miss Jo
to occur in discretemineralswith high thallium con- Peterson,of StanfordUniversity,for their valuableaid in some
tent (Radtkeet al,1973;Radtkeet al,1974).In other aspectsof this study. The manuscriptwas greatlyimprovedby
depositsas well as at Carlin, thallium is in dispersed critical reviewsby ProfessorsGordon E. Brown and Konrad K'
forms in carbonaterocks in and closeto gold ores. Krauskopf of Stanford University, and Wayne E' Hall and
Survey'The seniorauthor
Thallium readilyforms complexsulfideswith other RichardC. Erd of the U.S. Geological
wishesto give specialthanks to Mr. Dan Higley of Carlin Gold
metalssuchas As, Sb,Ag, Pb, and Cu. Examplesof Mining Companyfor his assistance
and helpin obtainingsamples
Tl-containing complex sulfide mineral assemblagesfrom inaccessible
areasin the eastpit of the mine.
are the classicLengenbachdeposit in the Binnatal
References
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Stalder et al (1966-1968),Nowacki and Bahezre least-squares
Tech.
Inform. Seru' PB2l6ltE.
Commerce,
(1963),Nowackiet al (1967)and Graeser(1967),and
Bneuen, G. (1963)Handbookof PreparatiueInorganicChemistry.
the Jas Roux deposit,France(Johanet al,1974).
l, 2nd ed., AcademicPress,New York'
For carliniteto form and to persistrequiresan un- CrnstlNlrr, H. (1367) Ueber Thallium und seine Verbindungen.J. Prak. Chem.1U2,65-89'
usualsetof conditions:Tl mustbe in solutionin unusually high concentration; other elements with FrNrress. J., eNo P. Swwoop (1948) Thallous sulfoxylate
J. Am. Chem.Soc.70,711.
absent; isomerism.
which Tl readilycombinesmust be essentially
Gn,resrn,S. ( 1967)Ein Vorkommenvon Lorandite(TlAsS) in der
a mechanismmust exist that preventsdissolution; Schweiz.Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 16' 45-50.
Beitrage
and the environmentmust be reducingduring and H,qsN.H., ANDW. KltNcrn (1949)Riintgenographische
zu den System Thallium-Schwefel,Thallium-Selenund
after deposition.
Z. anorg'Chem.260, ll0-119'
Thallium-Tellur.
areprobablylow
Most solutionsof naturalsystems
ltto P. Ptcor (1974)La routhi€rite,
Z..
J.
MnNrteNNs,
JourN.
in thallium. Becausecarliniteis so solublein aqueous
TlHgAsSr, et la laffittite, AgHgAsS3,deux nouvellesespeces
solutions,specialmechanismsare requiredto create
min6rales.Bult. Soc.fr. Mineral. Cristallogr.97,48-53.
supersaturationand to retain carlinite once it has Klnrovl, K. N., E. A. KoNrov,l, E. D' Llnrtx, ,lr:lp V. F.
(1958) Avicennite-a new thallium mineral. Dokl'
S,arver-rrv
formed.Nothing is known of the solubilityof carlinite
S.S.S.R.,2' 23-25(in Russian)'Abstr'
Nauk
Uzbekistan,
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in aqueoussolutionsasa functionof temperatureand
l!24.
44,
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solupressure,and the extent to which deep-seated
J. A. A., ,tNo E. W. Gonren (1939)Die Kristallwith carliniteon Krterenn.
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struktur von Thallosulfid(Tlrs). Z. Kristallogr'l0l{' 367475.
approaching the surface cannot be evaluated. KrvlLo. P., exo R. Kunreu (1959)Polarographicdetermination
of the solubility product of thallium (I) sulfide' SuomenKem'
However,someevidencesupportsthe conclusionthat
w2,39.
the
deposit
the
Carlin
at one stagein the formationof
A. G. (1971)The Chemistryof Thallium.ElsevierPublishing
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(Radtke
Dickson,
and
hydrothermalsolution boiled
Co., Amsterdam,336P.
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dersaturatedwith carlinite would be an effective chemischeZusammensetzungeiner Sulfosalzeaus dem Lengenbach (Binnatal, Kt. Wallis) mit Hilfe der elektronischen
mechanism for increasing TlzS concentration to
Mikrosonde. Schweiz.Mineral. Petrol. Mitt 43, 407-412.
possibility
sulfurthat
the
Alternatively,
saturation.
known whether avicenniteis primary or whether it
formed by oxidation of primary TlrS.
Thallium compounds are highly poisonous
(Songina, 1964, p. 319); the potential hazard of
carlinite is greaterthan with other metallic sulfides
becauseof the rapidity with which TlrS oxidizesto
relatively highly soluble compoundssuch as TlrO.
Grains of carlinite will developpoisonouscoatings
on exposureto air, and we caution that they should
be handledcarefully,keepingthis hazardin mind.
CARLINITE
-,
565
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orpiment,Carlingold deposit,Nevada.
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l . 4 5 ,l l 8 - 1 2 1 .
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replacement-type
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-,
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-,
ANDB. J. ScsrrNrn(1970)Studiesof hydrothermal
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