Abstract
Nickelalumite, ideally NiAl4(SO4)(OH)12(H2O)3, is a newly approved mineral from the Batken region, Kyrgyzstan, where it occurs in the Kara-Tangi and Kara-Chagyr uranium deposits. It formed in a zone of hydrothermal alteration of U–V-bearing carbonaceous siliceous schists, in association with quartz, calcite, alumohydrocalcite, allophane, crandallite, kyrgyzstanite, ankinovichite and an unknown Al–OH-mineral. It occurs as aggregates of colourless to pistachio-green radiating bladed crystals from 0.05 to 0.50 mm long. It is vitreous to transparent in thin flakes, has a white streak, and shows no fluorescence under long-wave or short-wave ultraviolet light. Cleavage is perfect parallel to {001} and no parting was observed. Mohs hardness is 2, it is brittle and has a splintery fracture. The calculated mass density is 2.231 g cm–3. In transmitted plane-polarized white light, nickelalumite is non-pleochroic, biaxial, α = 1.542(2), γ = 1.533(2), β could not be measured due to the almost negligible thickness of the flakes. EPMA chemical analysis gave Al2O3 39.94, SiO2 0.17, SO3 15.20, V2O3 0.29, FeO 0.15, NiO 8.00, ZnO 6.21, (H2O)calc. 31.87, total 101.83 wt%, H2O was determined by crystal-structure analysis, and the empirical formula is as follows: (Ni0.55Zn0.39V0.02Fe0.01)Σ0.97(Al3.99Si0.01)Σ4.00 (SO4)(OH)12(H2O)3 based on 4 (Al + Si) cations. There is considerable variation in substitution of Zn, Cu, Fe and V3+ for Ni and V5+ for S6+. Nickelalumite is monoclinic, P21/n, a = 10.2567(5), b = 8.8815(4), c = 17.0989(8) Å, β = 95.548(1)°, V = 1550.3(2) Å3, Z = 4. The crystal structure of nickelalumite was refined to an R1 index of 5.66% and consists of interrupted [NiAl4(OH)12] sheets intercalated with layers of {(SO4)2(H2O)3}; nickelalumite is a member of the chalcoalumite group.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Vladimir M. Rogovoy, Vladimir N. Bobylev, Vasiliy S. Gurskii and Vladimir V. Smirnov for help during field work. We are grateful to Ilya B. Afanasyev for his help in obtaining BSE images of nickelalumite crystals, to Nikita V. Chukanov for discussion of the Raman spectra, and to Natalya A. Pekova for obtaining the macrophoto of nickelalumite spherulites from Kara-Chagyr. We are particularly grateful to Daniel Bernardo (Council for Geoscience South Africa) for help in obtaining a sample of nickelalumite from the National Museum of Natural History (Pretoria, RSA) and to Jacques Martini for detailed information concerning investigation of minerals from the Mbobomkulu cave. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers, Guest Editor Manfred Wildner, and Editor-in-Chief Lutz Nasdala for their comments and help in producing the final paper. Financial support for this work came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in the form of a Canada Research Chair in Crystallography and Mineralogy, and a Discovery grant to FCH, and by Canada Foundation for Innovation grants to FCH.
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Karpenko, V.Y., Agakhanov, A.A., Pautov, L.A. et al. Nickelalumite, ideally NiAl4(SO4)(OH)12(H2O)3, a new-old mineral from the Kara-Tangi uranium deposit, Kyrgyzstan. Miner Petrol 117, 219–229 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-023-00832-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-023-00832-3