Molybdenum
Molybdenum is a rare metal, silvery-white in color, brittle and very difficult to fuse. It is used mostly as an alloy of steel, to make certain grades of tool steel. The world’s greatest supply is obtained from Climax, Colorado, where the principal ore mineral is molybdenite.
[Molybdenite]
MoS₂
Occurs in scales or scaly masses, occasionally in tabular hexagonal crystals; hardness 1.5; specific gravity 4.7; color lead-gray; streak bluish-gray; luster metallic; opaque.
This mineral is the chief source for the metal molybdenum. Its extreme softness and greasy feel will distinguish it at once from any other mineral except graphite, which has much the same qualities, but its scaly character and the more bluish tinge in streak and color will distinguish these two.
It occurs in granites, gneisses, and metamorphic rocks in Colorado, New Mexico, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, etc.