The mineralogy of Cadmium

General Properties
Symbol:	Cd
Commodity pages:	Cadmium
Atomic Number:	48
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	112.411(8)
Electron configuration:	[Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s²

Photos

<	A crystal cadmium bar.	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	1.69
Atomic Radius:	161 pm
Ionic Radius:	95 pm (+2)
Van der Waals Radius:	158 pm
1st Ionization energy:	868 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	2

Physical Properties
Standard State:	solid
Bonding Type:	metallic
Melting Point:	594 K
Boiling Point:	1040 K
Density:	8.65 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	transition metal

Main isotopes of Cadmium
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
¹⁰⁶Cd	1.25%	>4.1×10²⁰y	β+β+ ?	¹⁰⁶Pd
¹⁰⁷Cd	synthetic	6.5h	ε	¹⁰⁷Ag
¹⁰⁸Cd	0.89%	>4.1×10¹⁷y	β+β+ ?
¹⁰⁹Cd	syn	462.6d	ε	¹⁰⁹Ag
¹¹⁰Cd	12.49%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹¹¹Cd	12.8%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹¹²Cd	24.13%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹¹³Cd	12.22%	7.7×10¹⁵y	β−	¹¹³In
^113mCd	synthetic	14.1y	β−	¹¹³In
^113mCd	synthetic	14.1y	Isomeric transition	¹¹³Cd
¹¹⁴Cd	28.73%	>6.4×10¹⁸y	β-β- ?	¹¹⁴Sn
¹¹⁵Cd	synthetic	53.46h	β−	¹¹⁵In
¹¹⁶Cd	7.49%	3.1×10¹⁹y	β-β-	¹¹⁶Sn

Main ions of Cadmium
Name	Ion	Example minerals
cadmium(II)	Cd²⁺	Greenockite

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1817
Discovered By:	Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann Friedrich Stromeyer Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann and Friedrich Stromeyer
Year Isolated:	1817
Isolated By:	Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann and Friedrich Stromeyer
Named For:	Greek "calamine", a cadmium-bearing mixture of minerals
CPK color coding:	#FFD98F
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Nitrides	tricadmium dinitride	Cd₃N₂	+2
Sulfides	cadmium sulphide	CdS	+2	Greenockite, Hawleyite
Selenides	cadmium selenide	CdSe	+2	Cadmoselite
Tellurides	cadmium telluride	CdTe	+2
Hydrides	cadmium dihydride	CdH₂	+2
Fluorides	cadmium difluoride	CdF₂	+2
Chlorides	cadmium dichloride	CdCl₂	+2
Iodides	cadmium diiodide	CdI₂	+2
Oxides	cadmium oxide	CdO	+2	Monteponite
Oxides	cadmium peroxide	CdO₂	+2

Mineral Diversity of Cadmium
1. Elements	1 valid mineral species
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts	14 valid mineral species
4. Oxides	3 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates	1 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates	8 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates	6 valid mineral species
Total:	33 valid species containing essential Cadmium

Minerals with the greatest weight % of Cadmium
Native Cadmium	Cd	100.00 %
Monteponite	CdO	87.54 %
Hawleyite	CdS	77.81 %
Greenockite	CdS	77.81 %
Otavite	CdCO₃	65.20 %
Cadsulfohite	Cd₂(SO₄)(OH)₂	63.35 %
Cadmoselite	CdSe	58.74 %
Voudourisite	CdSO₄·H₂O	49.63 %
Lazaridisite	Cd₃(SO₄)₃·8H₂O	43.82 %
Drobecite	CdSO₄·4H₂O	40.07 %

Geochemistry of Cadmium
Goldschmidt classification:	Chalcophile

Elemental Abundance for Cadmium
Crust (CRC Handbook)	1.5 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	1.8 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	1.6 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	9.8 x 10^-8	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	1.00 x 10^-7	mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	9.8 x 10^-8	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	1.1 x 10^-10	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	1.1 x 10^-10	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)	2.0 x 10^-6	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	1.6 x 10^-6	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	1.61 x 10^-6 (6.5%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Cadmium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Cadmium 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 Cadmium and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Cadmium. 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 Cadmium	% of Cd minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Sulfur	22 minerals with Cd and S	64.71%	193.78% higher
Oxygen	18 minerals with Cd and O	52.94%	34.79% lower
Copper	16 minerals with Cd and Cu	47.06%	247.77% higher
Hydrogen	13 minerals with Cd and H	38.24%	31.21% lower
Arsenic	7 minerals with Cd and As	20.59%	58.52% higher
Lead	5 minerals with Cd and Pb	14.71%	36.41% higher
Antimony	4 minerals with Cd and Sb	11.76%	105.46% higher
Chlorine	3 minerals with Cd and Cl	8.82%	20.18% higher
Zinc	3 minerals with Cd and Zn	8.82%	58.07% higher
Selenium	3 minerals with Cd and Se	8.82%	228.36% higher
Silver	3 minerals with Cd and Ag	8.82%	125.16% higher
Phosphorus	2 minerals with Cd and P	5.88%	52.05% lower
Potassium	2 minerals with Cd and K	5.88%	40.39% lower
Iron	2 minerals with Cd and Fe	5.88%	73.67% lower
Bismuth	2 minerals with Cd and Bi	5.88%	40.37% higher
Indium	2 minerals with Cd and In	5.88%	2,063.32% higher
Fluorine	1 mineral with Cd and F	2.94%	62.63% lower
Vanadium	1 mineral with Cd and V	2.94%	38.91% lower
Manganese	1 mineral with Cd and Mn	2.94%	74.78% lower
Germanium	1 mineral with Cd and Ge	2.94%	317.91% higher
Carbon	1 mineral with Cd and C	2.94%	63.94% lower
Aluminium	1 mineral with Cd and Al	2.94%	85.22% lower
Calcium	1 mineral with Cd and Ca	2.94%	88.19% lower
Tin	1 mineral with Cd and Sn	2.94%	61.30% 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 Cd Relative Frequency

Silver << Cadmium >> Indium

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

Most widespread minerals containing Cadmium

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

Name	Formula	Crystal System	Mindat Localities
Greenockite	CdS	Hexagonal	879
Hawleyite	CdS	Isometric	79
Ramdohrite	Pb_5.9Fe_0.1Mn_0.1In_0.1Cd_0.2Ag_2.8Sb_10.8S₂₄	Monoclinic	44
Otavite	CdCO₃	Trigonal	36
Niedermayrite	CdCu₄(SO₄)₂(OH)₆ · 4H₂O	Monoclinic	12
Černýite	Cu₂CdSnS₄	Tetragonal	10
Native Cadmium	Cd	Hexagonal	9
Tetrahedrite-(Cd)	Cu₆(Cu₄Cd₂)Sb₄S₁₂S	Isometric	8
Cadmoselite	CdSe	Hexagonal	8
Monteponite	CdO	Isometric	6

Photos
Greenockite, etc. Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA Hawleyite Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Otavite Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy Greenockite, etc. Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA Hawleyite Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Otavite Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy Greenockite, etc. Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA Hawleyite Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary Ramdohrite Chocaya-Animas mining district, Atocha Municipality, Sud Chichas Province, Potosí, Bolivia Otavite Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy

Photos

Greenockite, etc.

Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA

Hawleyite

Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary

Ramdohrite

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

Otavite

Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy

Greenockite, etc.

Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA

Hawleyite

Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary

Ramdohrite

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

Otavite

Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy

Greenockite, etc.

Aurora Mining District, Lawrence County, Missouri, USA

Hawleyite

Nagy-Lápafő area, Parádsasvár, Pétervására District, Heves County, Hungary

Ramdohrite

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

Otavite

Su Elzu, Ozieri, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy

Localities with greatest number of different Cadmium mineral species

1	Esperanza Mine, Kaminiza mines, Km 3, Lavreotiki, East Attica, Attica, Greece	11 Cd minerals
2	Tsumeb Mine (Ongopolo Mine), Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia	10 Cd minerals
3	Block 14 opencut, Broken Hill, Broken Hill district, Yancowinna Co., New South Wales, Australia	8 Cd minerals
4	Sounion Mine No. 19, Cato Sounio mines, Sounion, Lavreotiki, East Attica, Attica, Greece	5 Cd minerals
	Berenguela mining district, José Manuel Pando Province, La Paz, Bolivia	5 Cd minerals
6	Kelly Mine, Magdalena Mining District, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA	4 Cd minerals
7	Niujiaotang Cd-Zn deposit, Duyun County, Qiannan, Guizhou, China	4 Cd minerals
8	Kudriavy Volcano, Iturup Island, Kurilsky District, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia	4 Cd minerals

Important ores of Cadmium
The primary ore of cadmium is the zinc mineral sphalerite - in which cadmium is often a small, but significant, impurity.

Name	Formula	Crystal System
Sphalerite	ZnS	Isometric

Photos
Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland Sphalerite Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Sphalerite, etc. Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia Sphalerite Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland Sphalerite Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Sphalerite, etc. Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia Sphalerite Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland Sphalerite Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Sphalerite, etc. Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia Sphalerite Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain

Photos

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Sphalerite

Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Sphalerite, etc.

Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia

Sphalerite

Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Sphalerite

Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Sphalerite, etc.

Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia

Sphalerite

Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Sphalerite

Flamboro Quarry, West Flamborough Township, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Sphalerite, etc.

Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia

Sphalerite

Inagotable claim, La Providencia Mines, Andara mining district, Camaleño, Cantabria, Spain

Other significant minerals containing Cadmium

Name	Formula	Crystal System
Greenockite	CdS	Hexagonal
Hawleyite	CdS	Isometric

Photos
Greenockite Bishopton tunnel, Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK Hawleyite Keno Hill, Mayo mining district, Yukon, Canada Greenockite, etc. Prospect Park Quarry, Prospect Park, Passaic County, New Jersey, USA Hawleyite Mount Hope mine, Mount Hope Mining District, Eureka County, Nevada, USA Greenockite Bishopton tunnel, Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK Hawleyite Keno Hill, Mayo mining district, Yukon, Canada Greenockite, etc. Prospect Park Quarry, Prospect Park, Passaic County, New Jersey, USA Hawleyite Mount Hope mine, Mount Hope Mining District, Eureka County, Nevada, USA Greenockite Bishopton tunnel, Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK Hawleyite Keno Hill, Mayo mining district, Yukon, Canada Greenockite, etc. Prospect Park Quarry, Prospect Park, Passaic County, New Jersey, USA Hawleyite Mount Hope mine, Mount Hope Mining District, Eureka County, Nevada, USA

Photos