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Omariniite, Cu8Fe2ZnGe2S12, the germanium analogue of stannoidite, a new mineral species from Capillitas, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Luca Bindi ,
Hubert Putz ,
Werner H. Paar  and
Christopher J. Stanley
Luca Bindi*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Science de la Terra, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via G. La Pira, 4, I-50121 Firenze, Italy CNR – Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, Sezione di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, I-50121 Firenze, Italy
Hubert Putz
Affiliation:
Friedl ZT GmbH Rohstoff- und Umwelt Consulting, Karl-Lötsch-Strasse 10, A-4840 Vöcklabruck, Austria
Werner H. Paar
Affiliation:
Pezoltgasse 46, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
Christopher J. Stanley
Affiliation:
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
*
*E-mail: luca.bindi@unifi.it
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Abstract

Omariniite, ideally Cu8Fe2ZnGe2S12, represents the Ge-analogue of stannoidite and was found in bornite-chalcocite-rich ores near the La Rosario vein of the Capillitas epithermal deposit, Catamarca Province, Argentina. The mineral is associated closely with three other Ge-bearing minerals (putzite, catamarcaite, rarely zincobriartite) and bornite, chalcocite, digenite, covellite, sphalerite, tennantite, luzonite, wittichenite, thalcusite and traces of mawsonite. The width of the seams rarely exceeds 60 μm, their length can attain several 100 μm. The mineral is opaque, orange-brown in polished section, has a metallic lustre and a brownish-black streak. It is brittle, and the fracture is irregular to subconchoidal. Neither cleavage nor parting are observable in the sections. In plane-polarized light omariniite is brownish-orange and has a weak pleochroism. Internal reflections are absent. The mineral is distinctly anisotropic with rotation tints varying between brownish-orange and greenish-brown. The average result of 45 electron-microprobe analyses is Cu 42.18(34), Fe 9.37(26), Zn 5.17(43), In 0.20(6), Ge 11.62(22), S 31.80(20), total 100.34(46) wt.%. The empirical formula, based on Σ(Me + S) = 25, is Cu8.04(Fe2.03In0.02)Σ2.05Zn0.96 Ge1.94S12.01, ideally Cu8+Fe2+Zn2+Ge24+S122-. Omariniite is orthorhombic, space group I222, with unit-cell parameters: a = 10.774(1), b = 5.3921(5), c = 16.085(2) Å, V = 934.5(2) Å3, a:b:c = 1.9981:1:2.9831, Z = 2. X-ray single-crystal studies (R1 = 0.023) revealed the structure to be a sphalerite derivative identical to that of stannoidite. Omariniite is named after Dr. Ricardo Héctor Omarini (1946–2015), Professor at the University of Salta, for his numerous contributions to the geology of Argentina.

Keywords

omariniitenew mineral speciescopper-iron-zinc-germanium-sulfideelectron-microprobe analysesreflectance datacrystal structureLa Rosario veinCapillitas districtCatamarca ProvinceArgentina
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 81 , Issue 5 , October 2017 , pp. 1151 - 1159
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2017

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