Chemical Formula: PbS
Locality: Joplin district of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma and other world wide occurrences.
Name Origin: The Roman naturalist, Pliny, used the name galena to describe lead ore.
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide. It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite.
Physical Properties
Cleavage: {001} Perfect, {010} Perfect, {100} Perfect
Color: Light lead gray, Dark lead gray.
Density: 7.2 – 7.6, Average = 7.4
Diaphaneity: Opaque
Fracture: Brittle – Generally displayed by glasses and most non-metallic minerals.
Hardness: 2.5 – Finger Nail
Luminescence: Non-fluorescent.
Luster: Metallic
Magnetism: Nonmagnetic
Streak: grayish black
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