Patronite

Patronite is the vanadium sulfide mineral with formula VS₄. The material is usually described as V⁴⁺(S₂²⁻)₂.^[5] Structurally, it is a "linear-chain" compound with alternating bonding and nonbonding contacts between the vanadium centers. The vanadium is octa-coordinated, which is an uncommon geometry for this metal.^[6]

Patronite
Patronite from the Minas Ragra, Peru
General
Category	Sulfide mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	VS4
Strunz classification	2.EC.10
Crystal system	Monoclinic
Crystal class	Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Space group	I2/c
Unit cell	a = 12.11 Å, b = 10.42 Å, c = 6.78 Å; β = 100.8°; Z = 8
Identification
Formula mass	179.21 g/mol
Color	Lead-gray on fresh surfaces to gray-black after exposure to air
Crystal habit	Occurs as columnar crystal aggregates and in massive form
Cleavage	Distinct columnar
Mohs scale hardness	2
Luster	Metallic
Streak	Black
Diaphaneity	Opaque
Specific gravity	2.82
Pleochroism	Strong
References	[1][2][3][4]

The mineral was first described in 1906 for an occurrence in the Minas Ragra vanadium mine near Junín, Cerro de Pasco, Peru. It was named for Peruvian metallurgist Antenor Rizo-Patron (1866–1948) the discoverer of the deposit.^[2][3] At the type locality in Peru it occurs in fissures within a red shale likely derived from an asphaltum deposit. Associated minerals include, native sulfur, bravoite, pyrite, minasragrite, stanleyite, dwornikite, quartz and vanadium bearing lignite.^[3] It has also been reported from the Yushkinite gorge on the Middle Silova-Yakha River on the Paikhoi Range of the polar Urals of Russia and from the Tsumeb mine in Namibia. 

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article  Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.