A new mineral species of the pyrochlore supergroup, hydroxyplumbopyrochlore (IMA2018-145), (Pb1.5,□0.5)Nb2O6(OH), has been discovered in the Jabal Sayid peralkaline granitic complex of the Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia. It is associated with quartz, microcline, ‘biotite’, rutile, zircon, calcite, rhodochrosite, columbite-(Fe), goethite, thorite, bastnäsite-(Ce), xenotime-(Y), samarskite-(Y), euxenite-(Y), hydropyrochlore and fluornatropyrochlore. Hydroxyplumbopyrochlore usually shows euhedral octahedra, slightly rhombic dodecahedra and cubes or their combination (0.01–0.06 mm). The mineral is pale yellow to pale brown, transparent with white streak, and has adamantine to transparent lustre. It is brittle with conchoidal fracture. No cleavage or parting are observed. It is isotropic and non-fluorescent. The average microhardness is 463.4 kg mm–2. The calculated density is 6.474 g cm–3.

Hydroxyplumbopyrochlore belongs to the cubic crystal system and exhibits the space group Fd$\bar{3}$m with unit-cell parameters a = 10.5456(6) Å, V = 1172.8(2) Å3 and Z = 8. Electron microprobe analysis gave (6-point average composition, wt.%): CaO 0.32, SrO 0.16, FeO 0.17, Ce2O3 0.07, Pr2O3 0.02, PbO 51.69, Nb2O5 40.06, SiO2 0.05, TiO2 1.68, Ta2O5 4.74, H2Ocalc 0.95, total 99.90, yielding the empirical formula (Pb1.34Ca0.03Fe0.01Sr0.01□0.61)Σ2(Nb1.75Ti0.12Ta0.12Si0.01)Σ2O6(OH0.53O0.08□0.39)Σ1, where □ = vacancy. The Raman spectrum of hydroxyplumbopyrochlore contains the characteristic bands of O–H vibrations and no bands for H2O vibrations.

A new mineral majzlanite, ideally K2Na(ZnNa)Ca(SO4)4, was found in high-temperature exhalative mineral assemblages in the Yadovitaya fumarole, Second scoria cone of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption (1975–1976), Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Majzlanite is associated closely with langbeinite and K-bearing thénardite. Majzlanite is grey with a bluish tint, has a white streak and vitreous lustre. The mineral is soluble in warm water. Majzlanite is monoclinic, C2/c, a = 16.007(2), b = 9.5239(11), c = 9.1182(10) Å, β = 94.828(7)°, V = 1385.2(3) Å3 and Z = 16. The eight strongest lines of the X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [d, Å (I, %)(hkl)]: 3.3721(40)($\bar{3}$12), 3.1473(56)($\bar{4}$02), 3.1062(65)($\bar{2}$22), 2.9495(50)($\bar{1}$31), 2.8736(100)($\bar{1}$13), 2.8350(70)(421), 2.8031(45)(511) and 2.6162(41)($\bar{5}$12). The following structural formula was obtained: K2Na(Zn0.88Na0.60Cu0.36Mg0.16)(Ca0.76Na0.24)(S0.98Al0.015Si0.005O4)4. The chemical composition determined by electron-microprobe analysis is (wt.%): Na2O 9.73, K2O 15.27, ZnO 11.20, CaO 7.03, CuO 4.26, MgO 1.07, Al2O3 0.47, SO3 51.34, SiO2 0.12, total 100.49. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 16 O apfu is K1.99Na1.93Zn0.84Ca0.77Cu0.33Mg0.16(S3.94Al0.06Si0.01)O16 and the simplified formula is K2Na(Zn,Na,Cu,Mg)Σ2(Ca,Na)(SO4)4. No natural or synthetic compounds directly chemically and/or structurally related to majzlanite are known to date. The topology of the heteropolyhedral framework in majzlanite is complex. An interesting feature of the structure of majzlanite is an edge-sharing of ZnO6 octahedra with SO4 tetrahedra.

A new arrojadite-group mineral manganoarrojadite-(KNa), ideally KNa5MnFe13Al(PO4)11(PO3OH)(OH)2, was found in a phosphate-bearing granite pegmatite at the Palermo No. 1 mine, New Hampshire, USA. It forms anhedral grains up to 1 × 1.5 cm in size combined in aggregates with vivianite, goyazite, quartz and calcite. The mineral is olive green with a pale green streak and vitreous to greasy lustre. The cleavage is good in one direction. The Mohs hardness is 4½. Dcalc is 3.53 g/cm3. Manganoarrojadite-(KNa) is optically biaxial (–), α = 1.658(2), β = 1.666(2), γ = 1.670(2), 2Vmeas. = 67(1)° and 2Vcalc. = 70° (589 nm). The infrared spectrum is reported. The composition (wt.%) is Na2O 6.97, K2O 1.78, CaO 0.31, MgO 2.17, MnO 12.30, FeO 31.17, Al2O3 2.43, P2O5 40.48, F 0.30, H2O 1.32, O = F2 –0.13, total 99.10. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 12 P and (O+OH+F) = 50 apfu is Na4.73K0.80Ca0.12Mg1.13Mn2+3.65Fe2+9.13Al1.00P12.00O46.59OH3.08F0.33. The ideal structural formula is A1KA2NaB1NaB2NaNa1,2Na2Na3□ CMnMFe13Al(PO4)11(PO3OH)W(OH)2. The mineral is monoclinic, Cc, a = 16.5345(3), b = 10.0406(2), c = 24.6261(5) Å, β = 105.891(2)°, V = 3932.09(14) Å3 and Z = 4. The strongest reflections of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d,Å(I)(hkl)] are: 5.902(24)(202), 5.025(24)(020), 3.208(47)(206,$\;\bar{1}$32), 3.048(100)($\bar{5}$14,$\bar{4}$24), 2.758(24)($\bar{6}$02) and 2.704(70)(226). The crystal structure, refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (R1 = 0.025), is of the arrojadite structure type. Manganoarrojadite-(KNa) is the first arrojadite-group mineral with Mn dominant on the site usually occupied by Ca and without Ca as the dominant cation at any cation site.

The new alluaudite-group mineral badalovite was found in the Arsenatnaya fumarole at the Second scoria cone of the Northern Breakthrough of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. It is associated with hematite, tenorite, cassiterite, johillerite, nickenichite, calciojohillerite, bradaczekite, metathénardite, aphthitalite, langbeinite, calciolangbeinite, sanidine, fluorophlogopite, fluoborite, tilasite, anhydrite, pseudobrookite, sylvite, halite, lammerite, urusovite, ericlaxmanite, arsmirandite, svabite, krasheninnikovite, euchlorine, wulffite and alumoklyuchevskite. Badalovite forms oblique-angled prismatic crystals up to 1 mm × 1 mm × 5 mm, typically combined in groups or crusts up to several hundred cm2 in area. The mineral is transparent, green, grey, yellow or colourless, with vitreous lustre. It is brittle, the Mohs hardness is 3½. Cleavage was not observed, the fracture is uneven. Dcalc is 4.02 g cm–3. Badalovite is optically biaxial (–), α = 1.753(3), β = 1.757(3), γ = 1.758(3) and 2Vmeas. = 50(10)°. Chemical composition (wt.%, electron-microprobe; holotype) is: Na2O 9.23, K2O 0.19, CaO 2.04, MgO 13.78, MnO 0.31, CuO 0.12, ZnO 0.24, Al2O3 0.06, Fe2O3 12.77, TiO2 0.01, SiO2 0.06, P2O5 0.33, V2O5 0.05, As2O5 61.51, SO3 0.02, total 100.72. The empirical formula based on 12 O apfu is Na1.67Ca0.20K0.02Mg1.92Zn0.02Mn0.02Cu0.01Fe3+0.90Al0.01(As3.01P0.03Si0.01)Σ3.05O12. The simplified formula is Na2Mg2Fe3+(AsO4)3. Badalovite is monoclinic, C2/c, a = 11.9034(3), b = 12.7832(2), c = 6.66340(16) Å, β = 112.523(3)°, V = 936.59(4) Å3 and Z = 4. The strongest reflections of the powder XRD pattern [d,Å(I)(hkl)] are: 6.41(38)(020), 5.505(20)(200), 3.577(23)($\bar{1}$31), 3.523(25)(310), 3.211(46)($\bar{1}$12), 2.911(28)($\bar{2}$22, $\bar{3}$12), 2.765(100)(240, 400) and 2.618(26)($\bar{1}$32). The crystal structure was solved from single-crystal XRD data with an R1 of = 2.49%. Badalovite is isostructural with other alluaudite-group minerals. Its simplified crystal chemical formula is A(1)NaA(1)’□A(2) □A(2)’NaM(1)MgM(2)(Mg0.5Fe3+0.5)2(AsO4)3 (□ – vacancy) and the end-member formula is NaNaMg(MgFe3+)(AsO4)3. The mineral is named in honour of the outstanding mineralogist and geochemist Stepan Tigranovich Badalov (1919–2014).

Bosoite (IMA2014-023) is a new silica clathrate mineral containing hydrocarbon molecules in its crystal structure. Bosoite can be considered structurally as a silica analogue of the structure-H gas hydrate, where guest molecules are trapped in cage-like voids constructed of the host framework. The mineral occurs in the Miocene tuffaceous sedimentary rocks at Arakawa, Minami-boso City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Bosoite is hexagonal, and it crystallises as an epitaxial intergrowth on chibaite crystals, with the {0001} of bosoite parallel to octahedral {111} form of chibaite. Crystals are colourless and transparent with vitreous lustre. The calculated density is 2.04 g/cm3. The empirical formula (based on 2 O apfu and guest molecules assumed as CH4) is Na0.01(Si0.98Al0.02)Σ1.00O2⋅0.50CH4; the end-member formula is SiO2⋅nCxH2x+2. Bosoite has the space group P6/mmm, with the unit-cell parameters a = 13.9020(3) Å, c = 11.2802(2) Å, V = 1887.99(6) Å3 and Z = 34. The crystal structure of bosoite was refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and converged to R1 = 4.26% for the average model and R1 = 2.96% for the model where all oxygen sites are split.

Zircon crystals from diamondiferous kyanite gneisses of the Barchi-Kol area (Kokchetav massif, Northern Kazakhstan) have been investigated by a combined application of cathodoluminescence (CL), Raman spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The zircon crystals exhibit up to four distinct domains characterised by significantly different CL signatures and parameters of the ν3(SiO4) (1008 cm–1) Raman band (i.e. full width at half maximum, position and intensity). Extremely metamict zircon cores (Domain I) host inclusions of low-pressure minerals (quartz and graphite) and the outer mantles (Domain III) are populated by ultrahigh-pressure relicts (diamond and coesite), whereas inner mantles (Domain II) and overgrowth rim zones (Domain IV) are inclusion free. Both the zircon cores and rims have very low Ti concentrations, implying formation temperatures below 760°C. The Ti content in the inner mantles (up to 40 ppm) is indicative of temperatures in the 760–880°C range. The temperature estimates for the outer mantles are 900–940°C, indicating a pronounced overlap with the peak metamorphic values yielded by the Zr-in-rutile geothermometer for the same rocks (910–950°C). The internal textures of the zircons and the occurrence of index minerals within the distinct domains allow us to unravel the stages of the complex metamorphic history recorded in the zircon. Our data show that the zircon cores are inherited seeds of pre-metamorphic (magmatic?) origin, the inner mantles were formed on the prograde metamorphic stage, the outer mantles record ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and the outermost rims mark the retrograde metamorphic stage. The observed zircon internal textures are thus clearly correlated with distinct growth events, and in some examples reflect a major part of the metamorphic history. It is concluded that the combined application of the CL, Raman spectroscopy and EPMA techniques to zircon offers significant potential for deciphering the metamorphic evolution of deeply-subducted rocks.

Jeankempite, Ca5(AsO4)2(AsO3OH)2(H2O)7, is a new mineral species (IMA2018-090) discovered amongst coatings of arsenate minerals on oxidised copper arsenides from the Mohawk No. 2 mine, Mohawk, Keweenaw County, Michigan, USA. The new mineral occurs as lamellar bundles of colourless to white plates up to 1 mm wide and is visually indistinguishable from guérinite, with which it forms intergrowths. Jeankempite is transparent to translucent with a waxy lustre and white streak, is non-fluorescent under longwave and shortwave ultraviolet illumination, has a Mohs hardness of ~1.5 and brittle tenacity with uneven fracture. Crystals are flattened on {01$\bar{1}$} and exhibit perfect cleavage on {01$\bar{1}$}. Optically, jeankempite is biaxial (+), α = 1.601(2), β = 1.607(2), γ = 1.619(2) (white light); 2Vmeas. = 72(2)° and 2Vcalc. = 71.0°. The empirical formula is (Ca4.97Na0.013Mg0.017)(As3.99S0.01)4O23H16, based on 23 O and 16 H atoms per formula unit. Thermogravimetric analysis indicates that jeankempite undergoes four weight losses totalling 16.82%, close to the expected loss of 16.30%, corresponding to eight H2O. Jeankempite is triclinic, P$\bar{1}$, a = 6.710(6), b = 14.901(14), c = 15.940(15) Å, α = 73.583(12)°, β = 81.984(12)°, γ = 82.754(12)°, V = 1507(2) Å3 and Z = 3. The final structure was refined to R1 = 0.0591 for 2781 reflections with Iobs > 3σI. The crystal structure of jeankempite is built from a network of edge- and vertex-sharing CaO6, CaO7 and AsO4 polyhedra, and we hypothesise that the new mineral has formed due to a topotactic reaction brought on by dehydration of preexisting guérinite.