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The mineralogy of Bromine

General Properties
Symbol:	Br
Atomic Number:	35
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	79.904(1)
Electron configuration:	[Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁵

Photos

<	BROMINE AT ITS BEST	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	2.96
Atomic Radius:	94 pm
Ionic Radius:	196 pm (-1)
Van der Waals Radius:	185 pm
1st Ionization energy:	1140 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:	-325 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	-1,1,3,4,5,7

Physical Properties
Standard State:	liquid
Bonding Type:	covalent network
Melting Point:	266 K
Boiling Point:	332 K
Density:	3.12 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	halogen

Main isotopes of Bromine
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
⁷⁶Br	synthetic	16.2(2)h	β+	⁷⁶Se
⁷⁷Br	synthetic	57.036(6)h	β+	⁷⁷Se
⁷⁹Br	50.6%	stable
⁸¹Br	49.31%	stable
⁸²Br	synthetic	35.282(7)h	β−	⁸²Kr

Main ions of Bromine
Name	Ion	Example minerals
bromide	Br^-	Bromargyrite

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1825
Discovered By:	Antoine Jérôme Balard Leopold Gmelin Antoine Jérôme Balard and Leopold Gmelin
Year Isolated:	1825
Isolated By:	Antoine Jérôme Balard and Leopold Gmelin
Named For:	Greek: bromos - "stench", due to its characteristic smell
CPK color coding:	#A62929
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds
Fluorides	bromine fluoride	BrF	+1
	bromine trifluoride	BrF₃	+3
	bromine pentafluoride	BrF₅	+5
Oxides	bromine dioxide	BrO₂	+4
Oxides	dibromine oxide	Br₂O	+1

Mineral Diversity of Bromine
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts	2 valid mineral species
3. Halides	8 valid mineral species
Total:	10 valid species containing essential Bromine

Minerals with the greatest weight % of Bromine
Bromargyrite	AgBr	42.55 %
Kuzminite	[Hg₂]²⁺(Br,Cl)₂	28.49 %
Demicheleite-(Br)	BiSBr	24.90 %
Grechishchevite	Hg²⁺₃S₂(Br,Cl,I)₂	19.35 %
Barlowite	Cu₄BrF(OH)₆	17.56 %
Kadyrelite	[Hg₂]²⁺₃OBr₃(OH)	16.24 %
Ermakovite	(NH₄)(As₂O₃)₂Br	16.19 %
Eddavidite	Cu₁₂Pb₂O₁₅Br₂	10.14 %
Kelyanite	[Hg]²⁺₆Sb³⁺BrCl₂O₆	5.08 %
Vasilyevite	[Hg₂]²⁺₁₀I₃Br₂Cl[CO₃]O₆	3.37 %

Geochemistry of Bromine
Goldschmidt classification:	Lithophile

Elemental Abundance for Bromine
Crust (CRC Handbook)	2.4 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	4.0 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	2.5 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	6.95 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	6.73 x 10^-5	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	6.7 x 10^-5	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	1.2 x 10^-5	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	1.18 x 10^-5 (19%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Bromine in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Bromine and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements. The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Bromine and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Bromine. The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row. Click on a heading to sort.

Element	Valid Minerals listed with element and Bromine	% of Br minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Oxygen	11 minerals with Br and O	64.71%	20.02% lower
Chlorine	11 minerals with Br and Cl	64.71%	774.52% higher
Mercury	10 minerals with Br and Hg	58.82%	3,180.34% higher
Hydrogen	6 minerals with Br and H	35.29%	36.64% lower
Iodine	6 minerals with Br and I	35.29%	6,727.21% higher
Nitrogen	4 minerals with Br and N	23.53%	821.82% higher
Sulfur	4 minerals with Br and S	23.53%	6.70% higher
Copper	2 minerals with Br and Cu	11.76%	13.31% lower
Arsenic	2 minerals with Br and As	11.76%	8.97% lower
Silver	2 minerals with Br and Ag	11.76%	202.17% higher
Carbon	1 mineral with Br and C	5.88%	27.61% lower
Fluorine	1 mineral with Br and F	5.88%	25.69% lower
Potassium	1 mineral with Br and K	5.88%	40.89% lower
Bismuth	1 mineral with Br and Bi	5.88%	41.13% higher
Antimony	1 mineral with Br and Sb	5.88%	3.74% higher
Thallium	1 mineral with Br and Tl	5.88%	295.78% higher
Lead	1 mineral with Br and Pb	5.88%	45.33% lower

Periodic Table

2He

3Li

4Be

Show/hide current element

Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Br Relative Frequency

Selenium << Bromine >> Krypton

Most widespread minerals containing Bromine
This list of minerals containing Bromine is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Bromine mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Most widespread minerals containing Bromine

This list of minerals containing Bromine is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Bromine mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Name	Formula	Crystal System	Mindat Localities
Bromargyrite	AgBr	Isometric	280
Kuzminite	[Hg₂]²⁺(Br,Cl)₂	Tetragonal	4
Eddavidite	Cu₁₂Pb₂O₁₅Br₂	Isometric	3
Demicheleite-(Br)	BiSBr	Orthorhombic	3
Kadyrelite	[Hg₂]²⁺₃OBr₃(OH)	Isometric	2
Grechishchevite	Hg²⁺₃S₂(Br,Cl,I)₂	Tetragonal	2
Barlowite	Cu₄BrF(OH)₆	Hexagonal	2
Vasilyevite	[Hg₂]²⁺₁₀I₃Br₂Cl[CO₃]O₆	Triclinic	1
Kelyanite	[Hg]²⁺₆Sb³⁺BrCl₂O₆	Trigonal	1
Ermakovite	(NH₄)(As₂O₃)₂Br	Hexagonal	1

Photos
Bromargyrite Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Kuzminite, etc. Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia Eddavidite, etc. Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA Demicheleite-(Br) La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy Bromargyrite Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Kuzminite, etc. Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia Eddavidite, etc. Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA Demicheleite-(Br) La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy Bromargyrite Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Kuzminite, etc. Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia Eddavidite, etc. Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA Demicheleite-(Br) La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy

Photos

Bromargyrite

Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Kuzminite, etc.

Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia

Eddavidite, etc.

Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA

Demicheleite-(Br)

La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy

Bromargyrite

Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Kuzminite, etc.

Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia

Eddavidite, etc.

Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA

Demicheleite-(Br)

La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy

Bromargyrite

Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Kuzminite, etc.

Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia

Eddavidite, etc.

Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA

Demicheleite-(Br)

La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy

Localities with greatest number of different Bromine mineral species

1	Arzak Hg occurrence (Arzakskoye), Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia	3 Br minerals
2	Kadyrel' Hg occurrence, Oorash-Khem River Valley, Uyuk Range, Pi-Khem District, Tuva, Russia	3 Br minerals
3	Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA	2 Br minerals
4	Southwest Mine, Hendricks Gulch, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA	2 Br minerals
5	Lucky Jim Mine, Carbonate Peak, Old Woman District, Old Woman Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, USA	1 Br minerals
6	Akron-Silver Reef deposit, Silver Peak [1], Blackhawk District (Silver Reef District), San Bernardino County, California, USA	1 Br minerals
	U.S. Virgin Islands, USA	1 Br minerals
8	Amalie-Agua Caliente Mine (Amelia; Amelia Mine and mill; Amalia), Loraine, Loraine Mining District, Kern County, California, USA	1 Br minerals

Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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