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Stolzite, Broken Hill, Australia (size: 3.6 x 3.0 x 2.6 cm)
Category Tungstate minerals
(repeating unit)
Strunz classification 07.GA.05
Crystal symmetry Tetragonal 4/m - dipyramidal
Unit cell a = 5.461 Å, c = 12.049 Å; Z = 4
Color Reddish brown, brown, yellowish gray, smoky gray, straw-yellow, lemon-yellow; may be green, orange, red
Crystal habit Crystals dipyramidal to tabular
Crystal system Tetragonal
Cleavage Imperfect on {001}, indistinct on {011}
Fracture Conchoidal to uneven
Tenacity Brittle
Mohs scale hardness 2.5 - 3
Luster Resinous, subadamantine
Streak White
Diaphaneity Translucent to transparent
Specific gravity 8.34
Optical properties Uniaxial (-)
Refractive index nω = 2.270 nε = 2.180 - 2.190
Birefringence δ = 0.090
References [1][2][3]


Lead tungstate crystals have the optical transparency of glass combined with much higher density (8.28 g/cm3 vs ~2.2 g/cm3 for fused silica). They are used as scintillators in particle physics because of the their short radiation length (0.89 cm), low Molière radius (2.2 cm), quick scintillation response, and radiation hardness.[4] Lead tungstate crystals are used in the Compact Muon Solenoid's electromagnetic calorimeter.[4]

It was first described in 1820 by August Breithaupt, who called it Scheelbleispath and then by François Sulpice Beudant in 1832, who called it scheelitine. In 1845, Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger coined the name stolzite for an occurrence in Krusne Hory (Erzgebirge), Czech Republic, naming it after Joseph Alexi Stolz of Teplice in Bohemia.[2][3] It occurs in oxidized hydrothermal tungsten-lead ore deposits typically in association with raspite, cerussite, anglesite, pyromorphite and mimetite.[1]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b Handbook of Mineralogy
  2. ^ a b c
  3. ^ a b Wevmineral data
  4. ^ a b The CMS Collaboration (2006). "Chapter 1. Introduction". CMS Physics : Technical Design Report Volume 1: Detector Performance and Software. CERN. p. 14. ISBN 9789290832683. CMS has chosen lead tungstate scintillating crystals for its ECAL. These crystals have short radiation (X0 = 0.89 cm) and Moliere (2.2 cm) lengths, are fast (80% of the light is emitted within 25 ns) and radiation hard (up to 10 Mrad). 

Mellor, J. W. "A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry," Vol.11, Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1931, p. 792.

Stolzite crystal from the Darwin District, Inyo County, California (size: 2.0 x 1.7 x 1.6 cm)