ferberite

{{Infobox mineral

| name = Ferberite

| image = Ferberite - Panasqueira mines, Beira Baixa, Portugal.jpg

| imagesize = 280px

| alt =

| caption = Ferberite with muscovite from Minas da Panasqueira, Beira Baixa, Portugal

| category = Tungstate mineral

| formula = FeWO₄

| IMAsymbol = Feb{{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 = 4.DB.30

| dana =

| system = Monoclinic

| class = Prismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol)

| symmetry = P2/c

| unit cell = a = 4.72, b = 5.7
c = 4.96 [Å]; β = 90°; Z = 2

| color = Black, dark brown in transmitted light

| habit = Bladed crystals; massive

| twinning = Contact or interpenetrant or lamellar twins

| cleavage = Perfect on {010}; partings on {100} and {102}

| fracture = Uneven

| tenacity = Brittle

| mohs = 4–4.5

| luster = Submetallic to metallic adamantine

| streak = Brownish black

| diaphaneity = Nearly to entirely opaque

| gravity = 7.58

| density =

| polish =

| opticalprop = Biaxial (+)

| refractive = n_α = 2.255 n_β = 2.305 n_γ = 2.414

| birefringence = δ = 0.159

| pleochroism =

| 2V = Measured: 66°

| dispersion =

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| other = Slightly magnetic

| prop1 =

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| references = [http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/ferberite.pdf Ferberite in the Handbook of Mineralogy][http://www.mindat.org/min-1476.html Ferberite on Mindat.org][http://webmineral.com/data/Ferberite.shtml Ferberite data on Webmineral site]

}}

Ferberite is the iron endmember of the manganese–iron wolframite solid solution series. The manganese endmember is hübnerite. Ferberite is a black monoclinic mineral composed of iron(II) tungstate, FeWO₄.

Ferberite and hübnerite often contain both divalent cations of iron and manganese, with wolframite as the intermediate species for which the solid solution series is named.[http://www.mindat.org/min-4305.html Wolframite on Mindat]

Ferberite occurs as granular masses and as slender prismatic crystals. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 and a specific gravity of 7.4 to 7.5. Ferberite typically occurs in pegmatites, granitic greisens, and high temperature hydrothermal deposits. It is a minor ore of tungsten.

Ferberite was discovered in 1863 in Sierra Almagrera, Spain, and named after the German mineralogist Moritz Rudolph Ferber (1805–1875).

File:Ferberite-49138.jpg|Twinned Ferberite, Tazna Mine, Atocha-Quechisla District, Nor Chichas Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia. 4.8 × 4.0 × 3.6 cm.

Image:Ferbèrite-Tchéquie.jpg|Ferberite – Cínovec / Zinnwald, Erzgebirge; Krusné Hory Mts, Saxony and Ústí Region (Bohemia), Germany and Czech Republic