Chatkalite

Last updated
Chatkalite
General
Category Sulfide mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu6Fe2+Sn6S8
IMA symbol Ctk [1]
Strunz classification 2.CB.20
Crystal system Tetragonal
Crystal class Scalenohedral (42m)
H-M symbol: (4 2m)
Space group P4m2
Unit cell a = 7.61(1) Å,
c = 5.373(5) Å; Z = 1
Identification
ColorRose to brown orange; Pale rose in reflected light
Crystal habit Rounded grains, to 100 μm within tetrahedrite
Mohs scale hardness4.5
Diaphaneity Opaque
Specific gravity 5.00 (calculated)
References [2] [3] [4] [5]

Chatkalite is a copper, iron, tin sulfide mineral with formula Cu6Fe2+Sn6S8. It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system and forms as rounded dissemations within tetrahedrite in quartz veins.

Contents

Physical properties

Chatkalite can have sizes ranging from rounded grains of about 100 micron when found within a tetrahedrite. It has a metallic luster, a hardness of 274 on the Vickers scale and a hardness of 4.5 on the Mohs scale. It has a color of pale rose in reflected light with no internal reflection. Its diaphaneity can be described as opaque. It does not exhibit any cleavage or twinning properties. Chatkalite is anisotropic which is characteristic of the stannite group. Its anisotropic intensity is a weak shade of brown.

Occurrences

Chatkalite was first located in the sulfide bearing quartz veins of the Chatkal-Kuramin Mountains in eastern Uzbekistan in 1981. Chatkalite has also been located in few other places since then namely Ubertad Mine, Quirulvica Province of Santiago de Chuco, Peru, Mine McCoy, McCoy district, Lander County, Nevada US and Eugenia Maria Vein, Cerro Shortcut, Catamarca, Argentina. A few other minerals are also closely associated to chatkalite based on locality, these are cassiterite, hermisite and hessite.

Unique characteristics

One of the rare characteristic of chatkalite is the fact that it has quaternary Bravais lattice metric singularity along with mawsonite. This means that there are four different lattices with three different symmetries that are all consistent with the same set of d spacings. The mineral chatkalite and mawsonite are considered highly specialized because they can produce cubic I tetragonal P, orthorhombic F, and orthorhombic P lattices.

Etymology

Chatkalite was discovered in 1981 around the Chatkal Mountains of Uzbekistan in an unknown locality. It was given the name chatkalite because of this region where it was discovered.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enargite</span> Sulfosalt mineral

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabandite</span> Sulfide mineral

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cubanite</span> Copper iron sulfide mineral

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andorite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macdonaldite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leightonite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kesterite</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uytenbogaardtite</span>

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Danielsite is a sulfide and sulfosalt that was first discovered in a pocket of supergene minerals in the north region of Western Australia. The location found was about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the locality known as Coppin Pool. The mineral danielsite was named after John L. Daniels who collected the sample in which the new mineral was found. The chemical formula of danielsite is (Cu,Ag)
14
HgS
8
. Danielsite is very fine grained and hard to observe in hand samples. It generally has a gray color with very brittle and soft physical characteristics.

Lemanskiite is a mineral that was first discovered in a mine at Abundancia mine, El Guanaco mining district, Chile, with the ideal formula of NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl•3H2O. Originally, this mineral was discovered as being dimorphus with lavendulan, but in 2018 it was revised to only have 3 water molecules. Lemanskiite typically occurs as rosette-shaped aggregates of thin lamellar or needle-shaped aggregates, such as lammerite. Lemanskiite is dark sky blue with a light blue streak, it is brittle with an excellent cleavage plane. It was found on a dumping site in the abandoned Abundancia mine, El Guanaco mining district, Region II, Antofagasta Province, Chile The new mineral has been named after Chester S. Lemanski, Jr. This mineral and name were then approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names of the International Mineralogical Association.

References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.
  2. Mineralienatlas
  3. Chatkalite in the Handbook of Mineralogy
  4. Chatkalite on Mindat.org
  5. Chatkalite data on Webmineral

Further reading