ABSTRACT Shakhdaraite-(Y), ideally ScYNb2O8, is a new mineral from the Leskhozovskaya miarolitic granitic pegmatite at the Shakhdara River, southwestern Pamir (Tajikistan). Shakhdaraite-(Y) occurs mainly as grains from 10 to 150 μm in size in a near-miarolitic pegmatite complex in association with quartz, albite, pyrochlore-microlite, fersmite, and an unnamed Sc-Nb oxide; only one large, single, well-shaped crystal 200 μm long was found in a small cavity with quartz, albite, bertrandite, pyrochlore, and jarosite. Shakhdaraite-(Y) is black to dark-brown, streak is brown. Luster is vitreous semi-metallic. It is brittle with conchoidal fracture. Mohs hardness is 5. VHN100 = 436 kg/mm2. Dcalc. = 5.602 g/cm3. In reflected light, it is light gray and its reflective capacity is moderate to low. Anisotropy is distinct, without color effects. Pleochroism was not observed. Internal reflections are red-brown. Reflectance values were measured in air with SiC as reference material [λ(nm), Rmax, Rmin]: 470, 14.6, 13.9; 546, 14.0, 13.4; 589, 13.9, 13.3; 650, 13.8, 13.1. Electron probe microanalysis (WDS mode, 7 points) gives (wt.%): Nb2O5 50.70; Ta2O5 4.52; TiO2 0.08; WO3 0.79; SnO2 1.54; CaO 1.01; Sc2O3 11.35; MnO 1.38; FeO 0.01; Y2O3 12.00; Ce2O3 0.21; Pr2O3 0.04; Nd2O3 0.27; Sm2O3 0.32; Eu2O3 0.07; Gd2O3 0.86; Tb2O3 0.22; Dy2O3 2.07; Ho2O3 0.29; Er2O3 1.33; Tm2O3 0.35; Yb2O3 2.80; Lu2O3 0.32; PbO 0.24; ThO2 1.90; UO2 3.30, total 97.97. The empirical formula of shakhdaraite-(Y) based on O = 8 apfu (atoms per formula unit) is (Nb1.91Sc0.83Y0.53Ta0.10Mn0.10Ca0.09 Yb0.07U4+0.06Dy0.06Sn0.05Th0.04Er0.03Gd0.02W6+0.02Pb0.01Ce0.01Nd0.01Sm0.01Tb0.01Ho0.01Tm0.01Lu0.01Ti0.01)Σ4.00O8, Z = 2. The simplified formula is Sc(Y,Yb)Nb2O8, where Yb is the dominant lanthanoid. Shakhdaraite-(Y) is monoclinic, space group P2/c, a 9.930(2), b 5.6625(11), c 5.2108(10) Å, β 92.38(3)°, V 292.7(5) Å3, Z = 2. The crystal structure was solved by direct methods [R1 = 0.0269, 878 unique reflections (F > 4σF)]. There are three cation M sites: [6]M(1) = Nb2apfu, [6]M(2) = Sc apfu, and [8]M(3) = Y apfu, ideally M = ScYNb2apfu. The M(1) and M(2) octahedra each form a brookite chain along c. The Y-dominant [8]M(3A) polyhedra form a brookite-like kinked chain, and each M(3A) polyhedron of one brookite-like chain shares two edges with the two M(3A) polyhedra from the adjacent brookite-like chain, thus forming a [Y2O8]10– layer. In the structure of shakhdaraite-(Y), M(1A) and M(2) brookite chains and a layer of [8]-coordinated M(3A) polyhedra alternate along a. Shakhdaraite-(Y) is isostructural with samarskite-(Y), ideally YFe3+Nb2O8. Shakhdaraite-(Y) [Russian Cyrillic: шахдараит-(Y)] is named after its type locality: the valley of the Shakhdara River in the southwest of the Pamir Mountains.
ABSTRACT The Jinbaoshan platinum group element-(Cu)-(Ni) deposit in southwest China is a sulfide-poor magmatic platinum-group element deposit that experienced multiple phases of post-magmatic modification. The sulfide assemblages of most magmatic Ni-Cu-platinum-group element deposits in China and elsewhere in the world are dominated by pentlandite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite with lesser magnetite and minor platinum-group minerals. However, Jinbaoshan is characterized by (1) hypogene violarite-pyrite 1-millerite-chalcopyrite and (2) supergene violarite-(polydymite)-pyrite 2-chalcopyrite assemblages. The platinum-group minerals are small (0.5–10 μm diameter) and include moncheite Pt(Te,Bi)2, mertieite-I Pd11(Sb,As)4, the atokite Pd3Sn – rustenburgite Pt3Sn solid solution, irarsite IrAsS, and sperrylite PtAs2 hosted mainly by violarite, silicates (primarily serpentine), and millerite. The platinum-group minerals occur in two sulfide assemblages: (1) mertieite-I-dominant (with irarsite, palladium, and Pd-alloy) in the hypogene assemblage and (2) moncheite-dominant (with irarsite, sperrylite, and atokite) in the supergene assemblage. Palladium and intermediate platinum-group elements (Os, Ir, Ru) are concentrated mainly in violarite, polydymite, and pyrite 2. Platinum is seldom hosted by base metal sulfides and occurs mainly as discrete platinum-group minerals, such as moncheite, sperrylite, and merenskyite. Violarite and polydymite in the Jinbaoshan deposit contain more Pb-Ag than pentlandite and pyrrhotite in the Great Dyke and Lac des Iles deposit. The formation of the sulfide assemblages in Jinbaoshan can be interpreted to have occurred in three stages: (1) a magmatic Fe-Ni-Cu sulfide melt crystallized Fe-Ni monosulfide and Cu-rich intermediate solid solutions, which inverted to a primary pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite-magnetite assemblage; (2) an early-secondary hypogene voilarite-millterite-pyrite 1-chalcopyrite assemblage formed by interaction with a lower-temperature magmatic-hydrothermal deuteric fluid; and (3) a late-secondary supergene violarite-polydymite-pyrite 2-chalcopyrite assemblage formed during weathering. Late-magmatic-hydrothermal fluids enriched the mineralization in Pb-Ag-Cd-Zn, which are incompatible in monosulfide solid solution, added Co-Pt into violarite, and expelled Pd to the margins of hypogene violarite and millerite, which caused Pd depletion in the hypogene violarite and the formation of mertieite-I. Supergene violarite inherited Pd and intermediate platinum-group elements from primary pentlandite. Thus, the unusual sulfide assemblages in the Jinbaoshan platinum-group element-(Cu)-(Ni) deposit results from multiple overprinted post-magmatic processes, but they did not significantly change the chalcophile element contents of the mineralization, which is interpreted to have formed at high magma:sulfide ratios (R factors) through interaction of crustally derived sulfide and a hybrid picritic-ferropicritic magma derived from subduction-metasomatized pyroxenitic mantle during impingement of the Emeishan plume on the Paleo-Tethyan oceanic subduction system.
ABSTRACT The existing classification of pyrochlore group minerals is essentially based on the dominant valence rule. However, coupled heterovalent-homovalent substitutions at the A-, B-, and Y-sites commonly result in charge-imbalanced endmember formulae. The application of the site total charge (STC) method permits the determination of a charge-balanced endmember. Species names are assigned by using the dominant constituent rule. According to the current IMA nomenclature scheme, some previously established pyrochlore species, such as kalipyrochlore, strontiopyrochlore, bariopyrochlore, plumbopyrochlore, ceriopyrochlore, yttropyrochlore, bismutopyrochlore, and uranpyrochlore, are all grouped as zero-valent-dominant pyrochlores, resulting in the loss of petrogenetic information. In this work, the zero-valent-dominant pyrochlores of the pyrochlore group (sensu stricto) are classified into R+-, R2+-, R3+-, and R4+-pyrochlores where the respective cations (R) are the dominant valencies at the A- and Y-sites (for R+-pyrochlores) after vacancies (□) and H2O. The endmember charge arrangements are determined by the STC method to obtain charge-balanced endmember formulae for all possible zero-valent pyrochlore species. It is recommended that suitable adjectival modifiers be used along with the species name to emphasize the abundance of certain cations, which may or may not be reflected in the endmember formula. This approach would facilitate the usage of pyrochlore group minerals for all practical petrological and exploration purposes. It is considered that pyrochlores with significant A-site vacancies do not necessarily reflect formation in a supergene environment, as such pyrochlores can also form in hydrothermal parageneses.
ABSTRACT X-ray diffraction experiments were carried out with protoenstatite, chemical composition Mg2Si2O6, in order to clarify the conditions under which protoenstatite can be retained at room temperature. Our results show that grain size, cooling rate, and shear stress during sample preparation clearly affect the transition from protoenstatite to clinoenstatite. Smaller protoenstatite grains were more likely to be retained, and the relationship between the retained volume ratio of the protoenstatite and grain size was statistically consistent with martensitic nucleation. The most protoenstatite was retained in the experiment using a cooling rate of 3 °C/min; the retained volume ratio decreased in experiments with both faster and slower cooling rates. The martensitic transformation of protoenstatite to clinoenstatite is promoted by shear stress caused by a fast cooling rate. Shear stress caused by grinding and polishing also promotes the transformation, but ion milling, used to prepare samples for transmission electron microscope observation, leaves the protoenstatite unchanged. Therefore, samples including protoenstatite should be prepared without producing shear stress so that the protoenstatite can be observed.
ABSTRACT Silica-rich garronite-Na was found together with epistilbite in Miocene basaltic rock from Shiratobana, Hirado Island, Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan for the first time. Garronite-Na occurs as an anhedral crystal that covers the center of a small cavity in altered basaltic rock, whereas the epistilbite covers the inside of the cavity. Electron probe microanalysis of the garronite-Na gives an empirical formula of (Na1.99K0.27)Σ2.26Ca1.61(Fe0.01Al5.31Si10.64)Σ15.96O32·14.3H2O on the basis of O = 32. Its Na/Ca molar ratio varies from 1.00 to 1.53, and its unit-cell parameters (space group I2) calculated from X-ray powder diffraction data are a = 9.983(11) Å, b = 10.089(14) Å, c = 10.070(10) Å, and β = 90.223(3)° with a calculated density of 2.183 g/cm3. Garronite-Na from Hirado Island formed from an alkaline high-silica solution in the later stages of hydrothermal zeolitization associated with volcanic activity.
