A spectacular stibnite. With its hundreds of bladelike crystals, this stunning specimen is one of the largest stibnites on public display in the world. Weighing almost half a ton, the stibnite crystals were able to grow to such impressive lengths because they formed in a large underground cavity. You can see it up close in the Museum’s Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals.
Photo: D. Finnin / © AMNH
The margin has been widening over the last few hours, but it’s still small enough to catch up.
4.25hrs left on the clock, #perovskite leading over #stibnite by under 50 votes
Repost: A comparison of volumes occupied within the Earth.
Case closed.
#MinCup25 Round 2 Match 2: It's all about how minerals interact with humans as dramatic #stibnite faces off against futuristic #perovskite.
Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2m02
Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/2025/results/r2m02
Stibnite vs Okenite (planetary science edition)
Stibnite may precipitate on the surface of Venus if there is sufficient antimony in the atmosphere. Minerals with high dielectric properties such as stibnite have been suggested as cause for the lower radar emissivity of certain regions but there are other options.
Okenite has not been detected on other planets but often occurs together with zeolites in geodes within basalt. Zeolites were detected on Mars.
Here is the crystal structure of Stibnite (Sb2S3). There are two slightly differing views generated by JSmol showing the arrangment of lath like rods oriented down the b-axis
Hmmmmm.... I like how fluffy #okenite is - also fun fact: it turns gelatinous in HCl! (The things you learn from reading the whole #mindat page, lol. [Side note does Mindat have an @ over here?]) I think that would be fun to poke under a fume hood. (Alas I don't have any okenite or access to a fume hood.)
But I think I'm gonna go with #stibnite - kohl has been important for thousands of years, after all; plus, antimony has loads of uses both modern and ancient, iirc. (Don't ask me to name any right now lol. Migraine brain says mmm rocks.) And, stibnite *is* closely associated with arsenic - very similar symptoms if you ingest it, actually.
One wonders if using kohl was also poisoning oneself.... 🤔
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