Paratacamite-(Ni), Cu3(Ni,Cu)Cl2(OH)6, a new mineral from the Carr Boyd Rocks mine, Western Australia

Matthew J. Sciberras, Peter Leverett, Peter A. Williams, David E. Hibbs, Peter J. Downes, Mark D. Welch, Anthony R. Kamp

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Paratacamite-(Ni)(IMA 2013-013), Cu3(Ni,Cu)Cl2(OH)6, is a new Ni-rich mineral with the paratacamite structure. It occurs in the Carr Boyd Rocks nickel mine, Western Australia, as a supergene alteration phase in association with gillardite, spaugolite and gypsum. Paratacamite-(Ni)occurs as aggregates of equant rhombohedral crystals up to ca2 mm in size and exhibits the forms {101}, {021} and {001}. The mineral is dark green with a light-green streak, transparent and has a vitreous lustre. It has good cleavage on {1011}. Measured and calculated densities are 3.70 and 3.735 g cm-3, respectively. Optically, paratacamite-(Ni) is uniaxial (-) with ѡ and E > 1.8. The average of eight electron-microprobe analyses gave the empirical formula Cu3(Ni0.71 Cu0.27 Co0.02)Cl2(0H)6. The new mineral is trigonal, space group R3, with a=13.682(2) and c=13.916(2) Å,V=2256.0(7) Å3 and Z=12. The strongest reflections in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [dobs Å(1)(hkl)]: 5.445(81)(021),4.637(13)(003), 4.505(8)(202),2.894(21)(401),2.751(100)(223), 2.254(65)(404), 1.815(14) (603) and 1.708(9)(440). The structure refined to R1 = 0.0225 and ѡR2 = 0.0660 for 314 reflections with Fobs> 4σ(Fobs). The (2+2+2) Jahn-Teller distortion present in the M(2)O6 octahedron suggests that the new mineral is close to the limit of Cu2+ substitution by Ni2+.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)39-44
    Number of pages6
    JournalAustralian Journal of Mineralogy
    Volume17
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

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