Altaite

Posted on January 1, 1970

Close up of gray altaite — Cleaved gray altaite with chalcopyrite and other intergrown tellurides. From the Mattagami Lake Mine, Matagami, Nord-du-Quebec, Quebec, Canada. Field of view is 14 mm. (Photo courtesy Norman King; unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.)

Formula: PbTe Isometric

Description:Altaite is a rare metallic tin-white mineral that occurs in hydrothermal veins with gold, silver, a variety of sulfides, and other tellurides.

PRICE COUNTY: Microscopic altaite, bearing gold and silver in solid solution, occurs intergrown with pyrite in the massive sulfide ore of the Ritchie Creek Deposit in southeast Price County (DeMatties, 1990).