Minrecordite | |
---|---|
General | |
Category | Carbonate minerals Dolomite group |
Formula (repeating unit) | CaZn(CO3)2 |
IMA symbol | Mrd [1] |
Strunz classification | 5.AB.10 |
Crystal system | Trigonal |
Crystal class | 3 Rhomboehedral |
Identification | |
Color | White, colourless |
Crystal habit | Typically rhombohedral crystals saddle-shaped, twisted |
Cleavage | Very good on [10-14] |
Mohs scale hardness | 3.5–4 |
Luster | Pearly |
Streak | White |
Diaphaneity | Translucent |
Specific gravity | 3.45 |
References | [2] [3] [4] |
Minrecordite, CaZn(CO3)2, is a very rare mineral belonging to the dolomite group, the member with Ca and Zn. It was discovered, associated with dioptase, in a specimen from the Tsumeb mine (Namibia), which is consequently its type locality. Its name is a tribute to The Mineralogical Record magazine, representing the collaboration between professional and amateur mineralogists. [5] In this locality it is associated primarily with dioptase, and less frequently with duftite, calcite and malachite. [6] It is a rare mineral, which has been found only in a few deposits in the world. In addition to the type locality, it appears in the Preguiça mine, in Moura, district of Beja (Portugal). [7]
Germanite is a rare copper iron germanium sulfide mineral, Cu26Fe4Ge4S32. It was first discovered in 1922, and named for its germanium content. It is only a minor source of this important semiconductor element, which is mainly derived from the processing of the zinc sulfide mineral sphalerite. Germanite contains gallium, zinc, molybdenum, arsenic, and vanadium as impurities.
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.
Dioptase is an intense emerald-green to bluish-green copper cyclosilicate mineral. It is transparent to translucent. Its luster is vitreous to sub-adamantine. Its formula is Cu6Si6O18·6H2O (also reported as CuSiO2(OH)2). It has a hardness of 5, the same as tooth enamel. Its specific gravity is 3.28–3.35, and it has two perfect and one very good cleavage directions. Additionally, dioptase is very fragile, and specimens must be handled with great care. It is a trigonal mineral, forming 6-sided crystals that are terminated by rhombohedra.
Fraipontite is a zinc aluminium silicate mineral with a formula of (Zn,Al)3(Si,Al)2O5(OH)4.
Legrandite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral, Zn2(AsO4)(OH)·(H2O).
Fornacite is a rare lead, copper chromate arsenate hydroxide mineral with the formula: Pb2Cu(CrO4)(AsO4)(OH). It forms a series with the phosphate mineral vauquelinite. It forms variably green to yellow, translucent to transparent crystals in the monoclinic - prismatic crystal system. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.3 and a specific gravity of 6.27.
Clinohedrite is a rare silicate mineral. Its chemical composition is a hydrous calcium-zinc silicate; CaZn(SiO4)·H2O. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and typically occurs as veinlets and fracture coatings. It is commonly colorless, white to pale amethyst in color. It has perfect cleavage and the crystalline habit has a brilliant luster. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 3.28–3.33.
Kutnohorite is a rare calcium manganese carbonate mineral with magnesium and iron that is a member of the dolomite group. It forms a series with dolomite, and with ankerite. The end member formula is CaMn2+(CO3)2, but Mg2+ and Fe2+ commonly substitute for Mn2+, with the manganese content varying from 38% to 84%, so the formula Ca(Mn2+,Mg,Fe2+)(CO3)2 better represents the species. It was named by Professor Bukowsky in 1901 after the type locality of Kutná Hora, Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. It was originally spelt "kutnahorite" but "kutnohorite" is the current IMA-approved spelling.
Patrónite is the vanadium sulfide mineral with formula VS4. The material is usually described as V4+(S22−)2. Structurally, it is a "linear-chain" compound with alternating bonding and nonbonding contacts between the vanadium centers. The vanadium is octa-coordinated, which is an uncommon geometry for this metal.
Kegelite is a complex silicate mineral with formula Pb8Al4Si8O20(SO4)2(CO3)4(OH)8.
Duftite is a relatively common arsenate mineral with the formula CuPb(AsO4)(OH), related to conichalcite. It is green and often forms botryoidal aggregates. It is a member of the adelite-descloizite Group, Conichalcite-Duftite Series. Duftite and conichalcite specimens from Tsumeb are commonly zoned in color and composition. Microprobe analyses and X-ray powder-diffraction studies indicate extensive substitution of Zn for Cu, and Ca for Pb in the duftite structure. This indicates a solid solution among conichalcite, CaCu(AsO4 )(OH), austinite, CaZn(AsO4)(OH) and duftite PbCu(AsO4)(OH), all of them belonging to the adelite group of arsenates. It was named after Mining Councilor G Duft, Director of the Otavi Mine and Railroad Company, Tsumeb, Namibia. The type locality is the Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.
Népouite is a rare nickel silicate mineral which has the apple green color typical of such compounds. It was named by the French mining engineer Edouard Glasser in 1907 after the place where it was first described, the Népoui Mine, Népoui, Poya Commune, North Province, New Caledonia. The ideal formula is Ni3(Si2O5)(OH)4, but most specimens contain some magnesium, and (Ni,Mg)3(Si2O5)(OH)4 is more realistic. There is a similar mineral called lizardite in which all of the nickel is replaced by magnesium, formula Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4. These two minerals form a series; intermediate compositions are possible, with varying proportions of nickel to magnesium.
Stillwellite-(Ce) is a rare-earth boro-silicate mineral with chemical formula (Ce,La,Ca)BSiO5.
Plumbogummite is a rare secondary lead phosphate mineral, belonging to the alunite supergroup of minerals, crandallite subgroup. Some other members of this subgroup are:
Lavendulan is an uncommon copper arsenate mineral, known for its characteristic intense electric blue colour. It belongs to the lavendulan group, which has four members:
Tsumebite is a rare phosphate mineral named in 1912 after the locality where it was first found, the Tsumeb mine in Namibia, well known to mineral collectors for the wide range of minerals found there. Tsumebite is a compound phosphate and sulfate of lead and copper, with hydroxyl, formula Pb2Cu(PO4)(SO4)(OH). There is a similar mineral called arsentsumebite, where the phosphate group PO4 is replaced by the arsenate group AsO4, giving the formula Pb2Cu(AsO4)(SO4)(OH). Both minerals are members of the brackebuschite group.
Sewardite is a rare arsenate mineral with formula of CaFe3+2(AsO4)2(OH)2. Sewardite was discovered in 1982 and named for the mineralogist, Terry M. Seward (born 1940), a professor of geochemistry in Zürich, Switzerland.
Warikahnite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral of the triclinic crystal system with Hermann- Mauguin notation 1, belonging to the space group P1. It occurs in the Tsumeb mine in Namibia on corroded tennantite in the second oxidation zone under hydrothermal conditions in a dolomite-hosted polymetallic ore deposit. It is associated with adamite, stranskiite, koritnigite, claudetite, tsumcorite, and ludlockite. The origin of discovery was in a dolomite ore formation within an oxidized hydrothermal zone, in the E9 pillar, 31st level of the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, Southwest Africa. It has also been found at Lavrion, Greece and Plaka, Greece as microscopic white needles.
Tsumcorite is a rare hydrated lead arsenate mineral that was discovered in 1971, and reported by Geier, Kautz and Muller. It was named after the TSUMeb CORporation mine at Tsumeb, in Namibia, in recognition of the Corporation's support for mineralogical investigations of the orebody at its Mineral Research Laboratory.
Spertiniite is a rare copper hydroxide mineral. Chemically, it is copper(II) hydroxide with the formula Cu(OH)2. It occurs as blue to blue-green tabular orthorhombic crystal aggregates in a secondary alkaline environment altering chalcocite. Associated minerals include chalcocite, atacamite, native copper, diopside, grossular, and vesuvianite.