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Leisingite, Cu(Mg,Cu,Fe,Zn)2Te6+O6·6H2O, a new mineral species from the Centennial Eureka mine, Juab County, Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Andrew C. Roberts ,
Lee A. Groat ,
Joel D. Grice ,
Robert A. Gault ,
Martin C. Jensen ,
Elizabeth A. Moffatt  and
John A. R. Stirling
Andrew C. Roberts
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8
Lee A. Groat
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
Joel D. Grice
Affiliation:
Research Division, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4
Robert A. Gault
Affiliation:
Research Division, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4
Martin C. Jensen
Affiliation:
Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA 89557-0047
Elizabeth A. Moffatt
Affiliation:
Canadian Conservation Institute, 1030 Innes Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0M5
John A. R. Stirling
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8
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Abstract

Leisingite, ideally Cu(Mg,Cu,Fe,Zn)2Te6+O6·6H2O, is hexagonal, P3 (143), with unit-cell parameters refined from powder data: a = 5.305(1), c = 9.693(6) Å, V = 236.2(2) Å3, c/a = 1.8271, Z = 1. The strongest six reflections of the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [d in Å (I) (hkl)] are: 9.70 (100) (001), 4.834 (80) (002), 4.604 (60) (100), 2.655 (60) (110), 2.556 (70) (111) and 2.326 (70) (112). The mineral is found on the dumps of the Centennial Eureka mine, Juab County, Utah U.S.A. where it occurs as isolated, or rarely as clusters of, hexagonal-shaped very thin plates or foliated masses in small vugs of crumbly to drusy white to colourless quartz. Associated minerals are jensenite, cesbronite and hematite. Individual crystals are subhedral to euhedral and average less than 0.1 mm in size. Cleavage {001} perfect. Forms are: {001} major; {100}, {110} minute. The mineral is transparent to somewhat translucent, pale yellow to pale orange-yellow, with a pale yellow streak and an uneven fracture. Leisingite is vitreous with a somewhat satiny to frosted appearance, brittle to somewhat flexible and nonfluorescent; H(Mohs) 3–4; D(calc.) 3.41 for the idealized formula; uniaxial negative, ω = 1.803(3), ɛ = 1.581 (calc.). Averaged electron-microprobe analyses yielded CuO 24.71, FeO 6.86, MgO 6.19, ZnO 0.45, TeO3 36.94, H2O (calc.) [21.55], total [96.70] wt.%, leading to the empirical formula based on O = 12. The infrared absorption spectrum shows definite bands for structural H2O with an O-H stretching frequency centered at 3253 cm−1 and a H-O-H flexing frequency centered at 1670 cm−l. The mineral name honours Joseph F. Leising, Reno, Nevada, who helped collect the discovery specimens.

Keywords

leisingitenew mineralCentennial Eureka mineJuab CountyUtahU.S.A.X-ray dataelectron-microprobe analysesoptical datainfrared-absorption study
Type
Mineralogy
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 60 , Issue 401 , August 1996 , pp. 653 - 657
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1996

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Footnotes

1

Present address: 121-2855 Idlewid Drive, Reno, Nevada, USA 89509

References

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