cattierite

{{Short description|Cobalt sulfide mineral}}

{{infobox mineral

| name = Cattierite

| image = File:Cattierite-654100.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Cattierite crystals in dolomite matrix

| category = Sulfide mineral

| formula = CoS₂

| IMAsymbol=Cat{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}

| strunz = 2.EB.05a

| dana =

| system = Cubic

| class = Diploidal (m{{overline|3}})
H-M symbol: (2/m {{overline|3}})

| symmetry = Pa{{overline|3}}

| unit cell = a = 5.52 Å; Z = 4

| color = Pink to grayish white

| habit = Cubic crystals and granular intergrowths

| twinning =

| cleavage = Perfect on {001}

| fracture =

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| mohs = 4

| luster = Metallic

| streak =

| diaphaneity = Opaque

| gravity = 4.82

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| opticalprop = Isotropic

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| references = [https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Cattierite Mineralienatlas][http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/cattierite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy][http://www.mindat.org/min-920.html Fact sheet from Mindat.org][http://www.webmineral.com/data/Cattierite.shtml Fact sheet from Webmineral]

}}

Cattierite (CoS₂) 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.{{cite journal | title = Cattierite and Vaesite: New Co-Ni Minerals from the Belgian Kongo | first = Paul F. | last = Kerr | year = 1945 | volume = 30| pages = 483–492|journal= American Mineralogist| url = http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM30/AM30_483.pdf}}

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 S₂²⁻. 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.