molybdenite

molybdenite , a mineral, molybdenum disulfide, MoS ₂ , blue-gray in color, with a metallic luster and greasy feel. It occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system but more commonly in scales, grains, or foliated or massive form. It has an excellent basal cleavage and the laminae are flexible. It is found in granites, syenites, gneisses, and crystalline limestones. Molybdenite is an important ore of molybdenum. The major sources are quartz veinlets in granite at Climax, Colo., and copper mines in Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Minor amounts are recovered in Mexico, Chile, Canada, and Norway.

molybdenite (molybdenum sulphide, MoS₂) Sulphide mineral, found in pegmatites, igneous and metamorphic rocks. It is a major ore of molybdenum. It has hexagonal system tabular prisms, flakes, and fine granules. It is lead-grey in colour with a metallic lustre. Hardness 1–1.5; r.d. 4.7.

molybdenite Mineral, MoS₂; sp. gr. 4.6–4.8; hardness 1.0–1.5; hexagonal; pale bluish to lead-grey; greenish-grey streak; metallic lustre; crystals hexagonal, often tabular grains, and it also occurs as foliated and scaly masses; cleavage perfect basal {0001}; quite widespread but seldom occurs in large quantities, found as an accessory mineral in granites, quartz veins, and pegmatites, in contact metamorphic zones with garnets, pyroxenes, scheelite, pyrite, and tourmaline, and in veins with scheelite, wolframite, cassiterite, and fluorite. It is a major ore mineral for molybdenum.