Troilite was detected from the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite massive ores of the Akagane and Kamaishi Mines by means of the optical, electron probe microanalyses and x-ray powder diffraction. The mineral occurs as the exsolution lamellae oriented in one or two directions in the grain of hexagonal pyrrhotite up to 200 microns in diameter; in certain specimen of the Kamaishi Mine, it occurs also as the grain up to 200 microns in diameter containing the irregular shaped hexagonal pyrrhotite, and is associated with the hexagonal pyrrhotite grain.
X-ray powder diffraction of troilite gives d(102)=2.0928_??_2.0932Å, which closely corresponds to the stoichiometric composition of FeS in reference to the published data. The hexagonal pyrrhotite constituting a groundmass contains always 47.7 atomic percent of iron and is thought to have reached an equilibrium with lamellar troilite at the earth-surface temperature. Calculated bulk composition of troilite-hexagonal pyrrhotite assemblage, 48.1 atomic percent Fe for the Akagane and 49.3 for the Kamaishi, indicates that the homogeneous parent Fe
l-xS phase begin to exsolve troilite nearly at 50° and 130°C in respective specimens. The parent Fe
1-xS phase is believed to have been formed at an earlier stage of sulfide mineralization, and the difference in its composition to reflect differences in temperature and/or oxygen fugacity at genesis.
View full abstract