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Mcalpineite, Cu3TeO6·H2O, a new mineral from the McAlpine mine, Tuolumne County, California, and from the Centennial Eureka mine, Juab County, Utah1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Andrew C. Roberts ,
T. Scott Ercit ,
Alan J. Criddle ,
Gary C. Jones ,
R. Scott Williams ,
Forrest F. Cureton II  and
Martin C. Jensen
Andrew C. Roberts
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8
T. Scott Ercit
Affiliation:
Research Division, Canadian Museun of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4
Alan J. Criddle
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Gary C. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
R. Scott Williams
Affiliation:
Canadian Conservation Institute, 1030 Innes Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C8
Forrest F. Cureton II
Affiliation:
The Cureton Corporation, P.O. Box 85445, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 85754-5445
Martin C. Jensen
Affiliation:
Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA. 89557-0047
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Abstract

Mcalpineite, ideally Cu3TeO6·H2O, occurs as isolated 0.5 mm-sized emerald green cryptocrystalline crusts on white quartz at the long-abandoned McAlpine mine, Tuolumne County, California, U.S.A. Associated nonmetallic phases are muscovite (mariposite), calcite, goethite, hematite, chlorargyrite, choloalite, keystoneite, mimetite, malachite, azurite, annabergite and a host of unidentified crusts, both crystalline and amorphous. Associated metallic minerals include pyrite, acanthite, hessite, electrum, altaite, native silver, galena, pyrargyrite, sphalerite and owyheeite. The mineral has also been identified at the Centennial Eureka mine, Juab County, Utah, U.S.A., where it occurs as interstitial olive-green coatings and as millimetre-sized dark green-black cryptocrystalline nodules lining drusy quartz vugs. Associated minerals are xocomecatlite, hinsdalite-svanbergite, goethite and several new species including two hydrated copper tellurates, a hydrated copper-zinc tellurate/tellurite, and a hydrated copper-zinc tellurate/tellurite-arsenate-chloride. Mcalpineite is cubic, P-lattice (space group unknown), a = 9.555(2) Å, V = 872.4(4) Å. The strongest six lines in the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [d in Å (I) (hkl)] are: 4.26(40)(210), 2.763(100)(222), 2.384(70)(400), 1.873(40)(431,510), 1.689(80)(440) and 1.440(60)(622). The average of four electron-microprobe analyses (McAlpine mine) is CuO 50.84, NiO 0.17, PbO 4.68, SiO2 0.65, TeO3 39.05, H2O (calc.) [4.51], total [100.00] wt. %. With O = 7, the empirical formula is (Cu2.79Pb0.09Ni0.01)∑2.89(Te0.97Si0.05)∑1.02O5.90·1.10H2O. This gives a calculated density of 6.65. g/cm3 for Z = 8. The average of two electron-microprobe analyses (Centennial Eureka mine) is CuO 51.2, ZnO 3.1, TeO3 39.0, SiO2 0.2, As2O5 0.8, H2O (by CHN elemental analyser) 7, total 101.3 wt. %, leading to the empirical formula (Cu2.56Zn0.15)∑2.71 (Te0.88Si0.02As0.02)∑0.92O5.47·1.53H2O. The infrared absorption spectrum shows definite bands for structural H2O with an O-H stretching frequency centred at 3320 cm−1 and a H-O-H flexing frequency centred at 1600 cm−1. In reflected light Mcalpineite is isotropic, nondescript grey, with ubiquitous brilliant apple to lime green internal reflections. The refractive index calculated from Fresnel equations is 2.01. Measured reflectance values in air and in oil are tabulated. Reflectance study also shows that cryptocrystalline aggregates are composed of micron-sized sheaves of fibrous or prismatic crystals. Other physical properties include: adamantine lustre; light green streak; brittle; uneven fracture; translucent to transparent and nonfluorescent under both long- and short-wave ultraviolet light. The name is for the first known locality, the McAlpine mine.

Keywords

Mcalpineitenew mineralMcAlpine mineCaliforniaU.S.A.Centennial Eureka mineUtahreflectance dataX-ray dataelectron-microprobe analysesinfrared-absorption study
Type
Mineralogy
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 58 , Issue 392 , September 1994 , pp. 417 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1994

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Footnotes

1

Geological Survey of Canada Contribution Number 32893

References

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