Nickelalumite, ideally NiAl4(SO4)(OH)12(H2O)3, a new-old mineral from the Kara-Tangi uranium deposit, Kyrgyzstan
Karpenko V.Y. Agakhanov A.A. Pautov L.A. Bekenova G.K. Uvarova Y.A. Sokolova E. Dikaya T.V. Hawthorne F.C.
June 2023Springer
Mineralogy and Petrology
2023#117Issue 2219 - 229 pp.
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 R 1 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.
Chalcoalumite group V-bearing schists , Crystal structure , EPMA chemical analysis , Kara-Tangi , New mineral species , Nickelalumite , Sulfate
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A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117071, Russian Federation
South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Institute of Mineralogy, Chelyabinsk Region, Miass, 456317, Russian Federation
Satpaev Institute of Geological Sciences, ul. Kabanbai batyr 69, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
CSIRO Mineral Resources, ARRC, 29 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, 6151, WA, Australia
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, MB, Canada
A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum
South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS
Satpaev Institute of Geological Sciences
CSIRO Mineral Resources
Department of Earth Sciences
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