Bismuth
Species
Rare · Bi
A native element whose natural crystals are usually indistinct and tarnish iridescent. Grown slowly from a melt, it forms the spectacular hopper crystals with rainbow oxide coatings seen in shops. Long counted as the heaviest stable element, until its only natural isotope was shown in 2003 to decay, with a half-life about a billion times the age of the universe.
Identity
- Formula
- Bi
- Chemical class
- Native element
- Also known as
- Native bismuth
- Ore of
- Bismuth
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Habits
- Massive, Granular, Dendritic
- Fracture
- Uneven
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 9.79 g/cm³
- Luster
- Metallic
- Colors
- silver-white, pink, multicolored
- Streak
- silver-white
- Transparency
- Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Hydrothermal, Igneous
- Host rocks
- Granite
- Associated minerals
- Arsenopyrite, Bismuthinite, Chalcopyrite, Quartz
- Found in
- Hydrothermal vein (lode), Pegmatite deposit
- Geography
- Bolivia, Germany, Australia, Japan, Canada
Classification
- Rarity
- Rare
- Gem quality
- No
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- Native Bismuth. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Bismuth. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- P. de Marcillac, N. Coron, G. Dambier, J. Leblanc, J.-P. Moalic, Experimental detection of α-particles from the radioactive decay of natural bismuth. Nature, 422, 876-878, 2003.
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