Molybdenite
Species
Common · MoS₂
Molybdenum disulfide, lead grey and greasy, so soft that it marks paper; without instruments it is almost impossible to tell from graphite, but it is much heavier. The most abundant molybdenum mineral and the main source of the metal, from porphyry deposits such as Climax and Henderson in Colorado, and it also occurs in the porphyry copper ores of Arizona, Utah and Mexico. It is practically the only source of rhenium.
Identity
- Formula
- MoS₂
- Chemical class
- Sulfide
- Ore of
- Molybdenum
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Habits
- Tabular, Foliated, Massive
- Fracture
- Uneven
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 1
- Density
- 4.7 g/cm³
- Luster
- Metallic
- Colors
- lead-gray, bluish lead gray
- Streak
- bluish gray
- Transparency
- Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Hydrothermal, Igneous, Metamorphic
- Host rocks
- Granite, Marble
- Associated minerals
- Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Quartz, Anhydrite, Fluorite, Scheelite
- Found in
- Hydrothermal vein (lode), Pegmatite deposit, Porphyry copper deposit, Skarn
- Geography
- USA (Climax and Henderson, Colorado; Questa, New Mexico), Canada (Quebec), Norway (Raade, Moss), Russia (Transbaikal, Urals), Germany (Altenberg), Australia (Kingsgate, New South Wales)
Classification
- Rarity
- Common
- 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.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Molybdenite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Molybdenite. Wikipedia.
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