The crystal structure of sophiite, Zn2(SeO3)Cl2 (a = 10.251(4), b = 15.223(2), c = 7.666(5) Å, Z = 8) was solved in space group Pccn from single crystal X-ray data, and refined to R = 0.053 for 666 Fo > 4oFo. The mineral belongs to layer compounds. The threefold coordinated Se atom is at the apex of a pyramid, the base of which is formed by three O atoms; Se-O = 1.69 Å. Zn cations occupy two positions with distorted tetrahedral and octahedral coordinations. In the tetrahedra, Zn cations are surrounded by two O (2.02 Å) and two Ci (2.224 Å) atoms. Zn octahedra contain four O atoms (2.07 Å) and two CI atoms (2.701 Å). The atomic arrangement is characterized by rings containing two Se pyramids linked by their corners to two Zn tetrahedra. The rings are linked by their edges and corners to Zn octahedra to form layers parallel to (010). The layers are interconnected by residual Van der Waals bonds.

Experimental results on thermal phase transformations and deformations, crystal optics and other physical properties of sophiite are presented. A structural aspect of their anisotropy is discussed.

The Mobale gold mine (Kivu, Zaire) has been worked since 1923, but the presence of aurostibite in the ore was recognized only very recently. The discovery of the mineral has also led to the recognition of its heretofore unsuspected reactivity during the amalgamation ore dressing operations. At the surface of aurostibite a layer of up to 30 μm thickness forms which has an overall brown colour and a low reflectivity, and is composed of several variegated, concentric zones. These zones contain gold, mercury, antimony and oxygen, with traces of iron and arsenic. Oxygen is present with a concentration range of 2-4 wt.% (20-30 at.%). The zones form at the expense of aurostibite, according to micrographical criteria. In complex grains formed of gold-arsenopyrite-galena-aurostibite, only aurostibite is affected by the formation of the external brown zones. Later pure gold veneers are deposited on the outermost surface of the brown layers during the processing of the ore. The newly discovered features of processed aurostibite could explain some of the difficulties met with during the dressing of antirnonian gold ores.

Numerous small octahedra of a black, brittle, magnetic mineral were found in calciphyre and brucite marble, occurring in the northern part of the exocontact zone of the Kondyor ultramafic-alkalic massif (south-eastern part of the Aldan Shield, 250 km north west of sea port Ayan). Their composition corresponds to the group from titanium magnesioferrite (11.53% TiO2) to titanium-rich magnesian spinel (27.34% TiO2), similar to spinellide found in Greenland (Gittins et al., 1982) and in Iraq (Al-Hermezi, 1985) and approved by the Commission on New Minerals as a new mineral named qandilite. Hardness, specific gravity, and reflectance of Kondyor qandilite are similar to those of the Iraq mineral. Peaks of IR-absorption spectra are equal to 580-590 cm−1 (v2) and 431-438 cm−1 (v2). There is a positive correlation between lattice parameters and the amount of Mg2TiO4: from 8.368 Å at 26.6% to 8.429 Å at 60.4%. Kondyor qandilite crystallized together with geikielite, oxidized alumina spinel (8.55% Fe2O3, ftotal : 16.5%), periclase, and forsterite.

Uraniferous bitumens from Great Britain, Scandinavia and South Africa have been studied by oilimmersion reflected-light microscopy and categorised into those formed either by replacement of preexisting uraninite and pitchblende or by complexation/reduction mechanisms in pre-existing hydrocarbons. The former are characterised by displaying normal replacive textures, and containing high concentrations of non-mineral-bound uranium, or later, occasionally exotic, uraniferous fracturefilling phases. Uraniferous bitumens formed during complexation/reduction reactions display monotonous mineralogies and ordered mineral-inclusion distributions.

Radiolytic alteration of uraniferous bitumens induces both chemical and mechanical alteration. Early alteration is marked by the generation of mobile hydrocarbons during 'cracking reactions' with subsequent within-sample migration to form globular bitumens and dendritic interspersions of mineralrich and -poor uraniferous bitumen. Mobile hydrocarbons may act as lubricants during mechanical deformation. Advanced organic alteration is characterised by well-documented increased reflectance around uraniferous grains, and by fracturing of the bitumens.

Amphiboles of the tremolite-ferro-actinolite series from the Bergslagen district in central Sweden have between 0 and 46% of their M1-M3 sites occupied by Mn. These amphiboles are divided into two groups; (1) a group characterised by Mn (M1-M3) > (Mg or Fe) (M1-M3), and (2) a group with much lower contents of Mn (M1-M3), showing the following chemical characteristics: (a) Mn (M1-M3) never exceeds Fe (M1-M3); (b) in Mg-rich members of the group [Mg (M1-M3) > (Mn or Fe) (M1- M3)], the highest amounts of Mn (M1-M3) occur in amphiboles with about 2.20 Mg (M1-M3) per formula unit (pfu); in Fe-rich members of the group Fe [(M1-M3) > (Mg or Mn) (M1-M3)] high amounts of Mn (M1-M3) [> 0.4 Mn (MI-M3)] pfu only occur in amphiboles with >3.40 Fe (M1-M3) pfu; (d) the lowest amounts of Mn (M1-M3) occur in amphiboles with Mg (M1-M3) = Fe (M1-M3).

Mn (M4) increases with increasing amounts of Mn (M1-M3), indicating that solid solution towards the tirodite-dannemorite series is enhanced by incorporation of Mn (M1-M3).

Electron microprobe analyses of chromite ores from Baramiya, Seifein, Siwigat, Ashayer, Um Salatit and Ras Shait, Egypt, reveal two compositional groups. The unaltered chromites from Baramiya and Seifein have high Al and low Cr contents [Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.56] whereas the remainder have low Al and high Cr contents [Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.73]. Such bimodality characterises Alpine-type peridotites. The second group probably crystallised at higher T and lower P than the first group and has a composition characteristic of a type III alpine-type peridotite, i.e. of arc or possibly ocean plateau origin but not of mid-ocean ridge origin. The crystallisation setting of the first group is less certain but not inconsistent with the same environment as the second group so that considering the likely higher pressure of crystallisation of the first group overall favours plutonic crystallisation in the roots of an arc for both groups.

Rim, patchy and fracture alteration of the chromite occurred possibly partly of late magmatic (deuteric) origin but mainly connected with fluid movements, serpentinisation and tectonism. The final composition of the resultant ferritchromite is variable and depends largely on the original chromite composition; the composition of the ferritchromite developed in highly cataclased chromites deviates markedly from that of the original chromite presumably due to unmixing and migration.

Cowlesite specimens from nine new occurrences in Northern Ireland and from eight localities previously reported in the literature, were crystal-chemically characterised. The chemical data for a total of 25 samples indicate a composition close to the stoichiometric formula for cowlesite and a very limited compositional range. X-ray powder diffraction spectra were performed on 8 samples. The crystallographic unit cell permit a proper indexing of the X-ray powder diffraction patterns as orthorhombic, unit cell constants close to a 23.3, b 30.6, c 25.0 Å and doubled with respect to those originally reported in literature. The powder pattern and the TG curve arc reported for an unidentified mineral species associated with cowlesite in one of the samples from Northern Ireland.

The crystal structure of the displacive ferroelectric mineral russellite, Bi2WO6, has been determined using Rietveld profile refinement of high-resolution, time of flight, neutron powder diffraction data on the synthetic compound. Russellite is orthorhombic, Pca21, with a 5.43726(2) Å, b 16.43018(5) Å, c 5.458422) Å, Z = 4 and is isostructural with the bismuth molybdate mineral koechlinite, Bi2MoO6. The structure consists of layers of tilted WO6 octahedra sandwiched between layers of bismuth and oxygen with the tungsten displaced from the centre of the octahedron by 0.278 Å. The orientations of the lone-pair electrons in the Bi3+ cations have been inferred from the 3.0 Å coordination shells of both crystallographically independent bismuths, and have been found to be non-centrosymmetric, an effect which may give rise to the tilting of the WO6 octahedra. New laboratory source X-ray powder diffraction data are presented for russellite, which, with supplementary synchrotron powder diffractometry, corroborate the new space group and structure determination.

Th- and Zr-bearing perovskite and Zr-rich Ti garnet are described from the Polino calcite carbonatite, Italy. The garnets contain 6.05-7.50 wt.% ZrO2 in cores and up to 15.80 wt.% in rims. Silicon is low in these garnets and substantial Al and Fe 3+ has been assigned to the tetrahedral sites. A strong correlation of Si with Zr from published data suggests the possibility that some Zr may also be tetrahedrally coordinated. However, the chemistry alone does not constrain the site distribution of Fe, Ti, Zr and Mg unambiguously. The perovskites are very unusual in containing 2.81-3.27 wt.% ZrO2 and 1.48-1.71 wt.% ThO2. For comparison, new analyses are presented of the zirconium garnet kimzeyite and coexisting perovskite from the type locality at Magnet Cove.

The crystal structure of klyuchevskite, K3Cu3(Fe,Al)O2(SO4)4, was determined in space group I2 using the total of 715 independent reflections up to R 0.12. Klyuchevskite is a structural analogue of piypite (caratiite) K4Cu4O2(SO4)4MeCl with the substitution K+ + Cu2+ → (Fe3+,Al) + MeCl. Compared to piypite, the ordering of Cu2+ and Fe3+ cations in the klyuchevskite structure results in the distortion of the unit cell and in lowering the symmetry of the chains to 1.

This brings about a more compact packing of the chains. The chain-like arrangement of the structure determines physical properties of the mineral, its acicular habit, perfect cleavage, strong anisotropy of optical properties and orientation of optical indicatrix.

The development of the morphology of baryte crystals grown in a silica gel medium is related to the changes in supersaturation. Nucleation occurs when the supersaturation in the system exceeds a threshold value which depends on the supersaturation rate, i.e. the rate at which the supersaturation is changing at the nucleation site. During growth the supersaturation decreases, although a high level of supersaturation is maintained throughout. These experimental results compare well with the morphological development predicted from theoretical models based on the periodic bond chain theory. The ontogeny of natural harytes corresponds, in considerable detail, to the experimental observations made here and strongly suggests that similarly high supersaturations have prevailed in nature. This correspondence indicates that the technique of crystal growth in a porous silica gel medium provides a good experimental model of studying natural growth processes.