Canadian Mineralogist Vol. 19, Pp. 337-340 (1981
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CanadianMineralogist Vol. 19,pp. 337-340 (1981) SPERTINIITE,Gu(OH)2, A NEW MINERAL FROM THE JEFFREY M|NE, OUEBEG J.D. GRICE NationalMuseunt ol Natural Sciences,Minerul SciencesDit'ision, Ottav'a, Ontario KIA 0M8 E. GASPARRINI Minntet ScientificLinrited, P.O. Box 921, Toronto,Ontario M4P 2H2 Asstnlcr Mots-c'lds;spertiniite, espbce min6rale nouvelle, hy- droxydecuprique, mine Jeffrey. Ou6bec.rodin- Spertiniite, a new speciesfrom the Jeffrev mine. eite. Quebec, occurs as small botrvoidal aggreg0tesas- sociated with chalcocite, native copper and ataca- mite on a rodingite dyke. It forms blue to blue- INtRoouc].tol.t ereen, lathlike crystals ( l0 pm in size. It is op- tically anisotropic. with parallel extinction and During a study of the minerals from the positive elongation; pleochroism is strong, with X Jeffrey mine, Asbestos,Shipton Township, Rich- colorless and Z dark blue; indices of refraction c mond County, Quebec(Grice & Williams 1979), 1.720(2), ? > 1.800(2). An electron-microprobe a natural occurrence of Cu(OH)r was dis- analysis gave 66.9VoCu and O.lVo Cl. By analogy covered.This specimenwas submittedfor identi- with (PDF syntheticCu(OH)o 13-420), spertiniite fication to one of the authors (J.D.G.) by Mr. is orthorhombic, space group Ctncm, and Z = 4; F. Spertini, Chief Geologistat the Jeffrey refined cell parametersarel. a 2.951(l'), b 10.592(3), mine, c 5.257Q\ A. fne srongest nine lines of the X-ray Johns-ManvilleCanada Incorporated; it is with powder-diffraction pattern are 5.28(80)(020). great pleasure that we name this new mineral 3.73 (e0) (02'.t\, 2.632(I 00) (002), 2.494(60) ( | 11) . speciesspertiniite. 2.362(sO)(041,022), 2.264(7OJir30), 1.929(30) The name and the mineral have been ap- (ll2), 1.716(70)( 150.132) and 1.438(30)(152) A. provedb), the Commissionon New Minerals and The nreasureddensity is 3.93(2) g/cme and the Mineral Names, I.M.A. The holotype specimen calculated density, g,/cm'. 3.94 of spertiniite consistsof a few mg of material Keyworcls; spertiniite, new mineral. cupric hv- on matrix measuring3x3x2 cm. This specimen droxide. Jeffrey mine. Qu6bec. rodingite. is preservedat the National Museum of Natural Sciences,Ottawa (NMNS 44696) along with Sovuernr cotype material (NMN^! 44697, 44698 and 44699). La spertiniite. espBcenouvelle trouvde ir la mine Jeffrey (Qu6bec), se pr6sente en petits asr6- gats botryoidaux avec chalcocite. cuivre natif et OccunnrNce atacamite associ6s,dans un dyke de rodineite. Les cristaux en lattes, de taille infErieure ir l0 um. Spertiniite is a very rare mineral, found in passent du bleu au bleu-vert. Optiquement ils sont a rodingite dyke exposedin the east side of the anisotropes,ii extinction paralldle. allongement po- Jeffrey mine open pit. At the time of discovery, sitif et fort pl6ochroisme (X incolore. Z bleu fon- January 1978, the exp.osureof the dyke meas- c6); leurs indices de r6fraction sont o l.7ZO(2), t ured I m in thicknessby 8 m in length (F. 1.800(2). IJne > analyse i la microsonde 6lectro- Spertini, pers. comm. 1980). Spertiniite occurs nique donne 66.9Vo Ct et 0.1Vo Cl. Par analogie in the lower portion of dyke near the con- avec le Cu(OH), synth6tique (PDF 13-420), la the spertiniite est orthorhombique, groupe spatial Cmcm, tact with the host serpentinizeddunite. This t 2.951(r), h r0.s9z(3), c 5.257(3) A. Z - 4. Les portion of the rodingite consists primarily of neuf raies les plus intenses du clich6 de poudre fine grained,dense, white diopsideand grossular, ld1,y1en A. (t) (/r&/)l sont: 5.28(80)(020), 3.73196; partly coated with pale green vesuvianite.Wares (021). 2.632(100)(002\, 2.494(60)(rrr). 2.362 & Martin ( 1980) gave further details of the ( (04r.022). (130\. i3'0) s0) 2.264(70) 1.929 ( rr2 t, petrology of this assemblage. 1.716(70)( 150,132) et 1.438(30)(l52). La densit6 Chalcocite commonly constitutes the core of mesurdeest de 3.93(2), calcul6e3.94. the botryoidal massesof spertiniite,which also (Traduit par la R6daction) contain atagamite. Minor amounts of copper 337 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/canmin/article-pdf/19/2/337/4005556/337_19_2_cm.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 338 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST (Fig. are associatedwith spertiniite in the rodingite. gaies approximately 100 g,m in diameter A second occurrence of spertiniite from Ely' I ). SEM observation shows them to be com- a Nevada, has been reported by Miss E.E. Fejer posed of lathJike crystals, often having (pers. comm., 1980), British Museum (Natural radial habit (Fig. 2), with their longest dimen- blue to History), London ( 8M1972,193). sion approximately l0 pm' Spertiniite is blue-greenand transparent with a vitreous lustre' crusheseasily without any marked PHYSICAL aNu OPrtcll- PRoPERTIES It is soft and cleavage. It does not fluoresce in ultraviolet Spertiniite forms discrete botryoidal aggre- radiation. There was insufficient material for Frc. l. Botryoidal aggregates of spertiniite on rodingite mafix' SEM image; width of field of view is 380 pm. FIc, 2, Radial aggregatesof lath-like crystals of spertiniite. SEM image; width of field of view is 230 pm. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/canmin/article-pdf/19/2/337/4005556/337_19_2_cm.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 SPERTINIITE FROM THE JEFFREY MINE 339 lIM I. FRAY }CIIIRDITFMCTICtrI DAN TOR SPRTI,UTE AID SYNMMC sohrbility measurementson spertiniite, but Weast @ruc mrcro (1977) reported that synthetic Cu(OH)r is in- soluble in cold water, decomposesin hot water PERTINITB qPuc ]mr and is soluble in acids. .l€t fuas dcalc l@s dmeas Three grains were used in the density deter- mination of spertiniite. Grains were suspended 80 5.29 5.29 020 90 5.30 3.73 3.73 02L L00 3.73 in Clerici solution (thallous malonate/formate- <t_0 2.A4 2.84 110 2 2.65 040 <1 water mixtures) at. 22"C, and densities of the 100 2.63 2.63 002 70 2.63 60 2.50 2.50 LLL 2.50 matching solution were measured in a 2-cm3 2.365 04r !2 2.364 z"ot , pycnometer. 50 \ 2.3y o22 16 The measured density, 3.93(2) 70 2.266 2.264 130 2,263 g/cm3, compares well with 20 2.017 2.079 l3l- 2.O78 the calculated den- 30 1.931 r.930 JJ2 2 r.929 sity of Cu(OH)r, 3.94 g/cm", with Z:4 and 1.866 042 <1 <f,0 L.764 1.765 060 6 L.797 r.72J 150 V:1643 43. 1 'a r 35 L.72 70 ' 1.716 r32 Optical measurementson spertiniite were dif- t0 r.670 r.673 061 J,.664 023 ficult owing to the small crystal size. It is 20 1.631 r.635 r-5r t0 1.493 L.492 lt3 L.492 optically anisotropicowith parallel extinction and br.0 L.474 L.475 200 L.4'76 ),.466 062 L.466 positive elongation. Pleochroism is strong, with b10 1.461 1.461 043 30 1.440 1.440 r52 T2 L.439 X colorless and Z dark blue. The indices of r.42r 220 L.420 refraction are 1.72O(2) 1.386 133 1.385 a and 7 >1.800(2); 1.373 L.372 22L L.372 this phasereacts with immersion 1.346 170 L.346 liquids having I.324 080 !,324 r) 1.800. 1.3L4 004 4 1.3L4 <10 1.301- 1.304 171 1,304 I r.289 240 <r0 r.2e1 | 1.287 2O2 6 1.285 CnystetLocnlpHy I L2A4 081 L.216 024 L,275 L.252 24I , 6 L.249 10 t l-2il 222 Spertiniite crystals are tabular (Fig. 2), but <10 L.?26 L.228 L53 2 r-224 L.198 n2 <I neither morphological nor single-crystal X-ray 1.193 Lt4 <10 1.181 1.182 042 4 1.180 studiescould be made owing to the microcrys- !.I77 U4 talline natnre of the aggregates.Using powder 1.157 242 <<r l_0 L.136 1.L37 L34 1.131 patterns generatedwith a 114.6 mm Gandolfi l.l-32 260 camera, 38 diffraction lines were measured; of r* additi@l. Eak liN bel@, ltrffiit-tes <10 these, 19 could be indexed and were suitable u4.6 @ Gtdol.fi l@a, c!(u radi*io. for least-squares refinement. The indexing is rJ@6 @d S13-420 ,*r.039, .98r. .9617, .947J", .930A. .9222, .9149, .9059, .4907, .464L, based on the orthorhombic cell and spacegroup .a442t .AI47, .1NO, .7743. Cmcm determined by Jaggi & Oswald (1961) for synthetic Cu(OH)r. The refined unit-cell parameters and volume arc a 2.951U.), b 10.592(3),c 5.257(3) A and V 164.3Q) N. wavelength-dispersionspectrometry with 20 kV The X-ray powder-diffraction data for spertiniite accelerating voltage and 0.5 pA sample current and syntheticCu(OH)e (PDF l3-420) are given measured on spertiniite-atacamite. Standards in Table l. used were copper metal for copper and halite for chlorine. The intensity counts emitted at Cusl4rclr CoupostttoN the copper and chlorine Ka wavelengthsby the standards and minerals were reduced by the All the chemical analyseswere performed on computer program EMPADR VII (Rucklidge & an ARL-EMX electron microprobe with a solid- Gasparrini 1969). state detector for analysis by energy dispersion. A preliminary qualitative study of the sperti- Although the microprobe is not normally the niite, in a predominantly diopside matrix, best instrument for the study of hydrous min- showed that the mineral is very fine grained, erals (neither O nor H is detected), it was in lV20 pm in size, and intimately associated our case the only one capable of analyzing with atacamite,from which it is not distinguished grains as fine as those of spertiniite.