Mawsonite | |
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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 | |
Color | Brownish orange |
Crystal habit | Exsolution grains within bornite |
Mohs scale hardness | 3.5-4 |
Luster | Metallic |
Diaphaneity | Opaque |
Specific gravity | 4.65 (calculated) |
Pleochroism | Strong |
Common impurities | Zn, Se |
Other characteristics | Magnetic |
References | [2] [3] [4] |
Mawsonite is a brownish orange sulfosalt mineral, containing copper, iron, tin, and sulfur: Cu6Fe2SnS8. [2]
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, luzonite–famatinite, kiddcreekite, mohite, native bismuth, galena and sphalerite. [3]
Bornite, also known as peacock ore, is a sulfide mineral with chemical composition Cu5FeS4 that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (pseudo-cubic).
Nickeline or niccolite is a mineral consisting primarily of nickel arsenide (NiAs). The naturally-occurring mineral contains roughly 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic by mass, but composition of the mineral may vary slightly.
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.
Cuprite is an oxide mineral composed of copper(I) oxide Cu2O, and is a minor ore of copper.
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 Semenovitch 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.
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.
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.
Aikinite is a sulfide mineral of lead, copper and bismuth with formula PbCuBiS3. 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.
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.
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.
Cesbronite is a copper-tellurium oxysalt mineral with the chemical formula Cu3Te6+O4(OH)4 (IMA 17-C). It is colored green and its crystals are orthorhombic dipyramidal. Cesbronite is rated 3 on the Mohs Scale. It is named after Fabien Cesbron (born 1938), a French mineralogist.
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.
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.
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.
Calciborite, CaB2O4, is a rare calcium borate mineral.
Gilalite is a copper silicate mineral with chemical composition of Cu5Si6O17·7(H2O).
Kostovite is a rare orthorhombic-pyramidal gray white telluride mineral containing copper and gold with chemical formula AuCuTe4.
Hemusite is a very rare isometric gray mineral containing copper, molybdenum, sulfur, and tin with chemical formula Cu6SnMoS8. It was discovered by Bulgarian mineralogist Georgi Terziev in 1963. He also described it and named it after Haemus, the ancient name of Stara planina (Balkan) mountains in Europe. The type locality is Chelopech copper ore deposit, Bulgaria. Later tiny deposits of hemusite were found in Ozernovskoe deposit, Kamchatka, Russia; Kawazu mine, Rendaiji, Shimoda city, Chūbu region, Honshu Island, Japan; Iriki mine, Iriki, Satsuma-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu Region, Japan; Kochbulak deposit, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Hemusite occurs as rounded isometric grains and aggregates usually about 0.05 mm in diameter and in association with enargite, luzonite, colusite, stannoidite, renierite, tennantite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and other minerals.
Strashimirite (IMA symbol: Ssh) is a rare monoclinic mineral containing arsenic, copper, hydrogen, and oxygen. It has the chemical formula Cu8(AsO4)4(OH)4·5(H2O).
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.