Cupalite

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Cupalite
General
CategoryNative element class, alloy
Formula
(repeating unit)		(Cu,Zn,Fe)Al
IMA symbol Cup [1]
Strunz classification 1.AA.20
Crystal system Orthorhombic
Unknown space group
Identification
ColorSteel-gray yellow
Mohs scale hardness4-4.5
Luster Metallic
Specific gravity 5.12 g/cm3
Other characteristicsnon-magnetic, non-radioactive
References [2] [3]

Cupalite is a rare mineral which is mostly composed of copper and aluminium, but might contain up to several percent of zinc or iron; [4] its chemical structure is therefore described by an approximate formula (Cu,Zn)Al or (Cu,Fe)Al. It was discovered in 1985 in placers derived from serpentine, in association with another rare mineral khatyrkite (CuAl2). Both minerals are thus far restricted to the area of the Iomrautvaam, in the Khatyrka ultramafic (silicon-poor) zone of the Koryak–Kamchatka fold area, Koryak Mountains, Anadyrsky District, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. [5] The mineral name derives from cuprum (Latin for copper) and aluminium. Its holotype (defining sample) is preserved in the Mining Museum in Saint Petersburg, and parts of it can be found in other museums, such as Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. [2] [3] [4]

Properties

Cupalite forms dendritic, rounded or irregular grains, typically below 0.1 millimeter in size, which are intergrown with khatyrkite. They have an orthorhombic crystal structure with a yet uncertain space group and the lattice constants a = 0.695(1) nm, b = 0.416(1) nm, c = 1.004(1) nm, and 10 formula units per unit cell. Their Mohs hardness is between 4 and 4.5 and Vickers hardness is in the range 272–318 kg/mm2 for a 20–50 gram load. [6]

Cupalite and khatyrkite are accompanied by spinel, corundum, stishovite, augite, forsteritic olivine, diopsidic clinopyroxene and several Al-Cu-Fe metal alloy minerals. They are remarkable by containing micrometre-sized grains of icosahedrite, a naturally occurring quasicrystal – aperiodic, yet ordered structure. The quasicrystal has a composition of Al63Cu24Fe13 and icosahedral symmetry. The presence of unoxidized aluminium in cupalite and association with the stishovite – a form of quartz which forms exclusively at high pressures of several tens GPa – suggest that cupalite is formed either upon meteoritic impact or in the deep earth mantle. [4] [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphalerite</span> Zinc-iron sulfide mineral

Sphalerite is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S. It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in sedimentary exhalative, Mississippi-Valley type, and volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. It is found in association with galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, calcite, dolomite, quartz, rhodochrosite, and fluorite.

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

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stishovite</span> Tetragonal form of silicon dioxide

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

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

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Chalcophyllite is a rare secondary copper arsenate mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of some arsenic-bearing copper deposits. It was first described from material collected in Germany. At one time chalcophyllite from Wheal Tamar in Cornwall, England, was called tamarite, but this name is now discredited. At Wheal Gorland a specimen exhibiting partial replacement of liriconite, Cu
2Al(AsO
4)(OH)
4•(4H
2O), by chalcophyllite has been found. The mineral is named from the Greek, chalco "copper" and fyllon, "leaf", in allusion to its composition and platy structure. It is a classic Cornish mineral that can be confused with tabular spangolite.

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Khatyrkite is a rare mineral which is mostly composed of copper and aluminium, but may contain up to about 15% of zinc or iron. Its chemical structure is described by an approximate formula (Cu,Zn)Al2 or (Cu,Fe)Al2. It was discovered in 1985 in a placer in association with another rare mineral cupalite. These two minerals have only been found at 62°39′11″N174°30′02″E in the area of the Iomrautvaam, a tributary of the Khatyrka river, in the Koryak Mountains, in Anadyrsky District, Chukotka, Russia. Analysis of one of the samples containing khatyrkite showed that the small rock was from a meteorite. A geological expedition has identified the exact place of the original discovery and found more specimens of the Khatyrka meteorite. The mineral's name derives from the Khatyrka zone where it was discovered. Its type specimen is preserved in the Mining Museum in Saint Petersburg, and parts of it can be found in other museums, such as Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delafossite</span> Copper iron oxide mineral

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

Luca Bindi is an Italian geologist. He holds the Chair of Mineralogy and Crystallography and is the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Florence. He is also a research associate at the Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse of the National Research Council (Italy) (CNR). He has received national and international scientific awards that include the President of the Republic Prize 2015 in the category of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences. Since 2019 is a Member of the National Academy of Lincei.

Lucabindiite is a mineral discovered in 1998 from the La Fossa crater at Vulcano, the Aeolian islands off the coast of Italy. It has the chemical formula As4O6(Cl,Br) and is hexagonal. After months of collecting sublimates and encrustations, the researchers discovered lucabindiite which was found on the surface of pyroclastic breccia. The mineral is named after Luca Bindi, who was a professor of mineralogy and former head of the Division of Mineralogy of the Natural History Museum of the University of Florence.

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. 1 2 "Cupalite" (PDF). Mineral Data Publishing. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  3. 1 2 "Cupalite". Mindat.org. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. 1 2 3 Steinhardt, Paul; Bindi, Luca (2010). "Once upon a time in Kamchatka: the search for natural quasicrystals". Philosophical Magazine. 91 (19–21): 2421–2426. Bibcode:2011PMag...91.2421S. doi:10.1080/14786435.2010.510457. S2CID   120117070. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  5. ↑ Razin, L.V., N.S. Rudashevskii, and L.N. Vyal'sov. (1985) New natural intermetallic compounds of aluminum, copper and zinc – khatyrkite CuAI2, cupalite CuAI and zinc aluminides – from hyperbasites of dunite-harzburgite formation. Zap. Vses. Mineral. Obshch., 114,90–100 (in Russian). c.f. (1986) Amer. Mineral., 71, 1278
  6. ↑ Hawthorne, F. C.; et al. (1986). "New Mineral Names" (PDF). American Mineralogist. 71: 1277–1282.
  7. ↑ Bindi, Luca; Paul J. Steinhardt; Nan Yao; Peter J. Lu (2009-06-05). "Natural Quasicrystals". Science . 324 (5932): 1306–9. Bibcode:2009Sci...324.1306B. doi:10.1126/science.1170827. PMID   19498165. S2CID   14512017. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
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