Orpiment

Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula As2S3. It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and is formed both by sublimation and as a byproduct of the decay of another arsenic mineral, realgar. Orpiment takes its name from the Latin auripigmentum (aurum, 'gold' + pigmentum, 'pigment') because of its deep-yellow color.Orpiment and realgar on a vuggy, quartz matrix, Nishinomaki Mine, Gunma Prefecture, JapanOrpiment from La Libertad, Quiruvilca, PeruEl'brusskiy arsenic mine, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Northern Caucasus Region, RussiaOrpiment crystal from Twin Creeks Mine, Potosi District, Humboldt County, Nevada, USA Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula As2S3. It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and is formed both by sublimation and as a byproduct of the decay of another arsenic mineral, realgar. Orpiment takes its name from the Latin auripigmentum (aurum, 'gold' + pigmentum, 'pigment') because of its deep-yellow color. Orpiment was traded in the Roman Empire and was used as a medicine in China, even though it is very toxic. It has been used as fly poison and to tip arrows with poison. Because of its striking color, it was of interest to alchemists, both in China and the West, searching for a way to make gold. For centuries, orpiment was ground down and used as a pigment in painting and for sealing wax, and was even used in ancient China as a correction fluid. It was one of the few clear, bright-yellow pigments available to artists until the 19th century. However, its extreme toxicity and incompatibility with other common pigments, including lead and copper-based substances such as verdigris and azurite, meant that its use as a pigment ended when cadmium yellows, chromium yellows and organic dye-based colors were introduced during the 19th century. Orpiment is mentioned in the 17th century by Robert Hooke in Micrographia for the manufacture of small shot. Orpiment is used in the production of infrared-transmitting glass, oil cloth, linoleum, semiconductors, photoconductors, pigments, and fireworks. Mixed with two parts of slaked lime, orpiment is still commonly used in rural India as a depilatory. It is used in the tanning industry to remove hair from hides. Orpiment is a common monoclinic arsenic sulfide mineral. It has a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2 and a specific gravity of 3.49. It melts at 300 °C (570 °F) to 325 °C (620 °F). Optically, it is biaxial (−) with refractive indices of a = 2.4, b = 2.81, g = 3.02.