The valence of iron in synthetic Fe-bearing tennantite was investigated by the Mössbauer method. Tennantite compositions were weighed out in the reference system Cu 12 As 4 S 13-Cu 14 As 4 S 13-Cu 10 Fe 2 As 4 S 13 at the levels with 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 1.7 Fe apfu. The tennantite compositions obtained were characterized by electron-microprobe analysis and powder-diffraction data. Compositions with a low-level substitution of iron for copper contain Fe 3+. Evidence of divalent iron appears at the level of 1.0 Fe apfu, and for Cu-rich charges, even at 0.5 Fe apfu. It becomes dominant in Cu-rich tennantite at ~1.0 Fe apfu, whereas in Cupoor tennantite, only at ~1.4 Fe apfu. The balance of the iron is in both cases represented by mixed-valence iron, with the values of isomer-shift and quadrupole splitting intermediate between those for Fe 2+ and Fe 3+. Effects of electron delocalization and net charge-transfer in superexchange interactions on the effective valence of iron were modeled using the relation between isomer shift and valence proposed by Goodenough & Fatseas for sulfides.