Troilite (FeS) is the most common sulfide mineral found in Lunar rocks. It is found in all the samples, although at less than 1% by volume (Lunar Sourcebook, 150). It is commonly found with ilmenite, spinel, and native Fe so we better plan for it (Lunar Sourcebook, 150). The best place to find higher concentrations is in mare basalts. Plus, sulfur would be useful if we could capture it.
I really didn’t get into the weeds on troilite. Troilite is non-magnetic, meaning we’re going to have a harder time separating it from the raw regolith. There are much more viable resources available to us.
Abundance and distribution
- Less than 1% in all samples
Physical composition
- Non-magnetic. This is a problem for separating it out of the raw regolith.
Chemical composition
Mechanical separation
Not needed for this phase of the project.
Refining
Not needed for this phase of the project.
Data
Analysis of troilite in rocks and soils (selected samples)(Lunar Sourcebook, 179)
- Apollo 12 ilmenite (<10%MgO, >5% TiO2)(Low-Ti)(1.5-9% TiO2)
- Iron oxide (FeO) by weight percent range: 63.1% – 63.2%
- Average FeO by percent weight = 63.2%
- Ratio of iron to magnesium [Fe/(Fe+Mg)] range = 1.00
- Apollo 12 olivine (>10% MgO, <5% TiO2)(Low-Ti)(1.5-9% TiO2)
- Iron oxide (FeO) by weight percent range: 63.4%
- Average FeO by percent weight = 63.4%
- Ratio of iron to magnesium [Fe/(Fe+Mg)] range = 1.00