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The mineralogy of Indium

General Properties
Symbol:	In
Commodity pages:	Indium
Atomic Number:	49
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	114.818(3)
Electron configuration:	[Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p¹

Photos

<	Pure indium bars	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	1.78
Atomic Radius:	156 pm
Ionic Radius:	80 pm (+3)
Van der Waals Radius:	193 pm
1st Ionization energy:	558 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:	-29 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	1,2,3

Physical Properties
Standard State:	solid
Bonding Type:	metallic
Melting Point:	430 K
Boiling Point:	2345 K
Density:	7.31 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	metal

Main isotopes of Indium
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
¹¹³In	4.29%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹¹⁵In	95.71	4.41×10¹⁴y	β−	¹¹⁵Sn

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1863
Discovered By:	Ferdinand Reich Hieronymus Theodor Richter Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter
Year Isolated:	1867
Isolated By:	Hieronymous Theodor Richter
Named For:	Named after indigo, because of indigo spectrum line
CPK color coding:	#A67573
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds
Nitrides	indium nitride	InN	+3
Sulfides	indium sulphide	InS	+2
Sulfides	diindium trisulphide	In₂S₃	+3
Selenides	indium selenide	InSe	+2
Selenides	diindium triselenide	In₂Se₃	+3
Tellurides	indium telluride	InTe	+1,+3
Tellurides	diindium tritelluride	In₂Te₃	+3
Hydrides	indium hydride	InH	+1
Fluorides	indium trifluoride trihydrate	InF₃ · 3H₂O	+3
	indium fluoride	InF	+1
	indium trifluoride	InF₃	+3
	indium trifluoride nonahydrate	InF₃ · 9H₂O	+3
Chlorides	indium chloride	InCl	+1
	indium dichloride	InCl₂	+1,+3
	indium trichloride	InCl₃	+3
Bromides	indium bromide	InBr	+1
	indium dibromide	InBr₂	+1,+3
	indium tribromide	InBr₃	+3
Iodides	indium iodide	InI	+1
	indium triiodide	InI₃	+3
	diindium tetraiodide	In₂I₄	+1,+3
Oxides	indium oxide	InO	+2
Oxides	diindium trioxide	In₂O₃	+3

Mineral Diversity of Indium
1. Elements	3 valid mineral species
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts	10 valid mineral species
4. Oxides	1 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates	1 valid mineral species
Total:	15 valid species containing essential Indium

Minerals with the greatest weight % of Indium
Native Indium	In	100.00 %
Dzhalindite	In(OH)₃	69.23 %
Indite	FeIn₂S₄	55.50 %
Damiaoite	PtIn₂	54.07 %
Cadmoindite	CdIn₂S₄	48.83 %
Roquesite	CuInS₂	47.35 %
Laforêtite	AgInS₂	40.03 %
Yanomamite	InAsO₄·2H₂O	39.62 %
Sakuraiite	(Cu,Zn,Fe)₃(In,Sn)S₄	26.47 %
Yixunite	Pt₃In	16.40 %

Geochemistry of Indium
Goldschmidt classification:	Chalcophile
In⁺ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)
In³⁺ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)

Elemental Abundance for Indium
Crust (CRC Handbook)	2.5 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	2 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	2.4 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	5.0 x 10^-8	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	6.95 x 10^-8	mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	5.0 x 10^-8	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	2 x 10^-8	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)	1.3 x 10^-6	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	1.9 x 10^-7	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	1.84 x 10^-7 (6.4%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Indium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Indium 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 Indium and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Indium. 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 Indium	% of In minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Sulfur	11 minerals with In and S	64.71%	193.25% higher
Iron	5 minerals with In and Fe	29.41%	31.10% higher
Copper	5 minerals with In and Cu	29.41%	117.20% higher
Zinc	3 minerals with In and Zn	17.65%	213.51% higher
Arsenic	3 minerals with In and As	17.65%	35.80% higher
Silver	3 minerals with In and Ag	17.65%	351.56% higher
Tin	3 minerals with In and Sn	17.65%	862.54% higher
Lead	3 minerals with In and Pb	17.65%	62.80% higher
Oxygen	2 minerals with In and O	11.76%	85.50% lower
Hydrogen	2 minerals with In and H	11.76%	78.85% lower
Cadmium	2 minerals with In and Cd	11.76%	2,051.56% higher
Bismuth	2 minerals with In and Bi	11.76%	180.28% higher
Platinum	2 minerals with In and Pt	11.76%	1,456.45% higher
Manganese	1 mineral with In and Mn	5.88%	49.34% lower
Palladium	1 mineral with In and Pd	5.88%	315.64% higher
Gallium	1 mineral with In and Ga	5.88%	3,964.05% higher
Antimony	1 mineral with In and Sb	5.88%	2.74% higher

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 In Relative Frequency

Cadmium << Indium >> Tin

Most widespread minerals containing Indium
This list of minerals containing Indium 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 Indium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Most widespread minerals containing Indium

This list of minerals containing Indium 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 Indium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Name	Formula	Crystal System	Mindat Localities
Roquesite	CuInS₂	Tetragonal	65
Ramdohrite	Pb_5.9Fe_0.1Mn_0.1In_0.1Cd_0.2Ag_2.8Sb_10.8S₂₄	Monoclinic	44
Dzhalindite	In(OH)₃	Isometric	18
Sakuraiite	(Cu,Zn,Fe)₃(In,Sn)S₄	Isometric	18
Native Indium	In	Tetragonal	11
Cadmoindite	CdIn₂S₄	Isometric	3
Laforêtite	AgInS₂	Tetragonal	3
Damiaoite	PtIn₂	Isometric	2
Tennantite-(In)	Cu₆(Cu₅In)As₄S₁₃	Isometric	2
Yanomamite	InAsO₄ · 2H₂O	Orthorhombic	2

Photos
Roquesite Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Dzhalindite Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Sakuraiite, etc. Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Roquesite Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Dzhalindite Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Sakuraiite, etc. Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Roquesite Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Dzhalindite Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Sakuraiite, etc. Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Photos

Roquesite

Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Ramdohrite

Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia

Dzhalindite

Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Sakuraiite, etc.

Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Roquesite

Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Ramdohrite

Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia

Dzhalindite

Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Sakuraiite, etc.

Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Roquesite

Akenobe mine, Oya-cho, Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Ramdohrite

Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia

Dzhalindite

Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Sakuraiite, etc.

Ikuno Mine, Ikuno-cho-ono, Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Localities with greatest number of different Indium mineral species

1	Kudriavy volcano, Iturup Island, Kurilsky District, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia	4 In minerals
	San Roque deposit, Valcheta Department, Río Negro Province, Argentina	3 In minerals
3	Toyoha Mine, Minami-ku, Sapporo City, Ishikari Subprefecture, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan	3 In minerals
4	Periquito mine, Mangabeira tin deposit, Monte Alegre de Goiás, Goiás, Brazil	3 In minerals
5	Jean Baptiste Mine, Kamariza Mines (Kamareza Mines), Agios Konstantinos (Kamariza), Lavreotiki, East Attica, Attica, Greece	2 In minerals
6	Pravo-Urmiiskoe deposit (Pravo-Urmiisky), Badzhalski ore District, Verkhnebureinsky District, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia	2 In minerals
7	Neves-Corvo Mine, Santa Bárbara de Padrões, Castro Verde, Beja, Portugal	2 In minerals
8	Pefka deposit, Alexandroupoli, Evros, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece	2 In 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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