Mawsonite

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Mawsonite
General
Category Sulfosalt minerals
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu6Fe2SnS8
IMA symbol Maw [1]
Strunz classification 2.CB.20
Crystal system Tetragonal
Crystal class Scalenohedral (42m)
H-M symbol: (4 2m)
Space group P4m2
Unit cell a = 7.603 Å, c = 5.358 Å, Z = 1; V = 309.72 Å3
Identification
ColorBrownish orange
Crystal habit Exsolution grains within bornite
Mohs scale hardness3.5-4
Luster Metallic
Diaphaneity Opaque
Specific gravity 4.65 (calculated)
Pleochroism Strong
Common impuritiesZn, Se
Other characteristicsMagnetic
References [2] [3] [4]

Mawsonite is a brownish orange sulfosalt mineral, containing copper, iron, tin, and sulfur: Cu6Fe2SnS8. [2]

Discovery and occurrence

It was first described in 1965 for occurrences in the Royal George mine, Swinton, Tingha, Hardinge County, New South Wales; and the North Lyell mine, Mount Lyell Mine, Queenstown, Tasmania. [5]

It was named after Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer, Sir Douglas Mawson (1882–1958). [2] It occurs within hydrothermal copper deposits in altered volcanic rocks. It also occurs in skarn deposits and as disseminations in altered granites. It occurs in association with bornite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, digenite, idaite, stannite, stannoidite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, tennantite, enargite, luzonitefamatinite, kiddcreekite, mohite, native bismuth, galena and sphalerite. [3]

Related Research Articles

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

Bornite, also known as peacock ore, is a sulfide mineral with chemical composition Cu5FeS4 that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (pseudo-cubic). It is an important copper ore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickeline</span> Nickel arsenide mineral

Nickeline or niccolite is the mineral form of nickel arsenide. The naturally-occurring mineral contains roughly 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic by mass, but composition of the mineral may vary slightly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanterite</span> Heptahydrated iron(II) sulfate

Melanterite is a mineral form of hydrous iron(II) sulfate: FeSO4·7H2O. It is the iron analogue of the copper sulfate chalcanthite. It alters to siderotil by loss of water. It is a secondary sulfate mineral which forms from the oxidation of primary sulfide minerals such as pyrite and marcasite in the near-surface environment. It often occurs as a post mine encrustation on old underground mine surfaces. It also occurs in coal and lignite seams exposed to humid air and as a rare sublimate phase around volcanic fumaroles. Associated minerals include pisanite, chalcanthite, epsomite, pickeringite, halotrichite and other sulfate minerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurichalcite</span> Basic carbonate of zinc and copper

Aurichalcite is a carbonate mineral, usually found as a secondary mineral in copper and zinc deposits. Its chemical formula is (Zn,Cu)5(CO3)2(OH)6. The zinc to copper ratio is about 5:4. Copper (Cu2+) gives aurichalcite its green-blue colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuprite</span> Oxide mineral

Cuprite is an oxide mineral composed of copper(I) oxide Cu2O, and is a minor ore of copper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uvarovite</span> Chromium-bearing garnet group

Uvarovite is a chromium-bearing garnet group species with the formula: Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3. It was discovered in 1832 by Germain Henri Hess who named it after Count Sergei Uvarov (1765–1855), a Russian statesman and amateur mineral collector. It is classified in the ugrandite group alongside the other calcium-bearing garnets andradite and grossular.

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

Caledonite, whose name derives from Caledonia, the historical name of its place of discovery (Scotland), is a richly colored blue-green sulfate-carbonate mineral of lead and copper with an orthorhombic crystal structure. It is an uncommon mineral found in the oxidized zones of copper-lead deposits.

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

Enargite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral with formula Cu3AsS4. It takes its name from the Greek word enarge, "distinct". Enargite is a steel gray, blackish gray, to violet black mineral with metallic luster. It forms slender orthorhombic prisms as well as massive aggregates. It has a hardness of 3 and a specific gravity of 4.45.

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

Aikinite is a sulfide mineral of lead, copper and bismuth with formula Pb Cu Bi S3. It forms black to grey or reddish brown acicular orthorhombic crystals with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 6.1 to 6.8. It was originally found in 1843 in the Beryozovskoye deposit, Ural Mountains. It is named after Arthur Aikin (1773–1854), an English geologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stichtite</span> Hydrotalcite group mineral

Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium; formula Mg6Cr2CO3(OH)16·4H2O. Its colour ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple colour. It is formed as an alteration product of chromite-containing serpentine. It occurs in association with barbertonite (the hexagonal polymorph of Mg6Cr2CO3(OH)16·4H2O), chromite and antigorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosasite</span> Mineral of copper zinc carbonate

Rosasite is a carbonate mineral with minor potential for use as a zinc and copper ore. Chemically, it is a copper zinc carbonate hydroxide with a copper to zinc ratio of 3:2, occurring in the secondary oxidation zone of copper-zinc deposits. It was originally discovered in 1908 in the Rosas mine in Sardinia, Italy, and is named after the location. Fibrous blue-green rosasite crystals are usually found in globular aggregates, often associated with red limonite and other colorful minerals. It is very similar to aurichalcite, but can be distinguished by its superior hardness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botallackite</span> Halide mineral

Botallackite, chemical formula Cu2(OH)3Cl is a secondary copper mineral, named for its type locality at the Botallack Mine, St Just in Penwith, Cornwall. It is polymorphous with atacamite, paratacamite and clinoatacamite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundas, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Dundas was a historical mining locality, mineral field and railway location on the western foothills of the West Coast Range in Western Tasmania. It is now part of the locality of Zeehan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulcanite</span> Copper telluride mineral

Vulcanite is a rare copper telluride mineral. The mineral has a metallic luster, and has a green or bronze-yellow tint. It has a hardness between 1 and 2 on the Mohs scale. Its crystal structure is orthorhombic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calciborite</span> Inoborate mineral

Calciborite, CaB2O4, is a rare calcium borate mineral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boleite</span> Complex halide mineral

Boleite is a complex halide mineral with formula: KPb26Ag9Cu24(OH)48Cl62. It was first described in 1891 as an oxychloride mineral. It is an isometric mineral which forms in deep-blue cubes. There are numerous minerals related to boleite, such as pseudoboleite, cumengite, and diaboleite, and these all have the same complex crystal structure. They all contain bright-blue cubic forms and are formed in altered zones of lead and copper deposits, produced during the reaction of chloride bearing solutions with primary sulfide minerals.

Mooihoekite is a copper iron sulfide mineral with chemical formula of Cu9Fe9S16. The mineral was discovered in 1972 and received its name from its discovery area, the Mooihoek mine in Transvaal, South Africa.

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

Gilalite is a copper silicate mineral with chemical composition of Cu5Si6O17·7(H2O).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strashimirite</span> Rare monoclinic mineral

Strashimirite is a rare monoclinic mineral containing arsenic, copper, hydrogen, and oxygen. It has the chemical formula Cu8(AsO4)4(OH)4·5(H2O).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwallite</span> Copper arsenate mineral

Cornwallite is an uncommon copper arsenate mineral with formula Cu5(AsO4)2(OH)4. It forms a series with the phosphate pseudomalachite and is a dimorph of the triclinic cornubite. It is a green monoclinic mineral which forms as radial to fibrous encrustations.

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 3 Mawsonite on Mindat.org
  3. 1 2 Mawsonite in the Handbook of Mineralogy
  4. Mawsonite data on Webmineral
  5. page 66 of Tasmania. Department of Mines; Petterd, W. F. (William Frederick). Catalogue of mineral of Tasmania; Geological Survey of Tasmania (1972), "Catalogue of the minerals of Tasmania", Mineralogical Magazine, 38 (299) (Rev. and amended 1969 ed.), Hobart (published 1970): 901, Bibcode:1972MinM...38..901E, doi:10.1180/minmag.1972.038.299.19, S2CID   129794143 , retrieved 18 April 2017