Hitachiite

Where it forms, where it's found

Geological setting: VMS deposit
Type locality: Fudotaki deposit
Hitachi Mine
Hitachi-machi
Taga District
Ibaraki Prefecture
Japan
36.6211°, 140.6128°

2recorded occurrences

Source · OpenStreetMap

Safety & handling

Physical

Hardness: 1Talc
2Gypsum
3Calcite
4Fluorite
5Apatite
6Orthoclase
7Quartz
8Topaz
9Corundum
10Diamond
Transparency: Opaque
Colour: silver gray
Streak: black
Density: 7.54 g/cm³

Optical

Pleochroism: Non-pleochroic
Anisotropism: Weak
Bireflectance: Weak
Internal reflections: None
Tropism: Anisotropic
Reflectance R%: (38.5, 41.8) 470, (38.8, 41.5) 546, (38.4, 41.1) 589, (38.1, 40.7) 650

Reflected-light panel

R̄ 38.4 %anisotropic · dual curve

Specimen sRGB 221, 155, 85

White reference100 % reflector under same lamp

R₁ R₂

Wavelength550 nm · R 38.8 %Stage rotation0°

Mode

Bireflectance: Weak
Anisotropism: Weak
Internal reflections: None

Crystallography

Crystal system: Trigonal
Space group: #84
Cell parameters: a = 4.220(1) Å · c = 27.02(4) Å
Z: 1

Chemical composition

Constituent elements: Mass composition breakdown
Element Atoms At. mass g/mol Mass g/mol Mass share
82PbLead Lead 5 207.200 1036.000
54.48%
83BiBismuth Bismuth 2 208.980 417.960
21.98%
52TeTellurium Tellurium 2 127.600 255.200
13.42%
16SSulfur Sulfur 6 32.060 192.360
10.12%
Total 1901.520 100.00%
Mass share = atoms × atomic mass ÷ molar mass × 100
From IMA formula

Mass composition breakdown
Element	Atoms	At. mass g/mol	Mass g/mol	Mass share
82PbLead	Lead	5	207.200	1036.000	54.48%
83BiBismuth	Bismuth	2	208.980	417.960	21.98%
52TeTellurium	Tellurium	2	127.600	255.200	13.42%
16SSulfur	Sulfur	6	32.060	192.360	10.12%
	Total	1901.520	100.00%

Synonyms

Hitachiiet
IMA2018-027

In other languages

German: Hitachiit · IMA 2018-027

Classification

Strunz

10th ed.

2.DC.05

2Sulfides and SulfosaltsClass
2.DMetal Sulfides, M: S = 3 :4 and 2:3Division
2.DCVariable M:SGroup
2.DC.05HitachiiteSpecies

Group, growth & confusion

7 members

Literature, links & citation

Citations

2018Toshiro Nagase, Takahiro Kuribayashi, Tatsuo Nozaki, Jun-Ichiro Ishibashi, Kazuhiko Shimada, Koichi Momma, Masaaki Shimizu (2018) Crystal structure determination of an unknown mineral of tetradymite group from the Hitachi mine, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. 22nd IMA Meeting Melbourne, Abstracts volume, p. 467.
2018Hålenius, Ulf, Hatert, Frédéric, Pasero, Marco, Mills, Stuart J. (2018) IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) Newsletter 44. European Journal of Mineralogy, 30 (4) 877-882 doi:10.1127/ejm/2018/0030-2787DOI: 10.1127/ejm/2018/0030-2787
2019Kuribayashi, Takahiro, Nagase, Toshiro, Nozaki, Tatsuo, Ishibashi, Junichiro, Shimada, Kazuhiko, Shimizu, Masaaki, Momma, Koichi (2019) Hitachiite, Pb₅Bi₂Te₂S₆, a new mineral from the Hitachi mine, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Mineralogical Magazine, 83 (5) 733-739 doi:10.1180/mgm.2019.45 DOI: 10.1180/mgm.2019.45
2022(2022) Hitachiite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America

Cite this entry

@misc{mineral2026,
  author    = {Mineral Index editorial board},
  title     = {Hitachiite — Mineral Index},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/hitachiite-53045},
  note      = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}