Skaergaardite, Pdcu, a New Platinum-Group Intermetallic Mineral from the Skaergaard Intrusion, Greenland
Mineralogical Magazine, August 2004, Vol. 68(4), pp. 615–632 Skaergaardite, PdCu, a new platinum-group intermetallic mineral from the Skaergaard intrusion, Greenland 1, 2 3,4 5 6 1 N. S. RUDASHEVSKY *, A. M. MCDONALD , L. J. CABRI , T. F. D. NIELSEN , C. J. STANLEY , YU. L. KRETZER 1 AND V. N. RUDASHEVSKY 1 Centre for New Technologies, Svetlanovsky ave. 75-41, St. Petersburg, 195427 Russia 2 Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Ramsy Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada 3 Cabri Consulting Inc., 99, Fifth Avenue, Suite 122, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5P5 4 CANMET/MMSL, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0G1 5 Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark 6 The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK ABSTRACT Skaergaardite, PdCu, is a new mineral discovered in the Skaergaard intrusion, Kangerdlugssuaq area, East Greenland. It occurs in a tholeitiic gabbro associated with plagioclase, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, ilmenite, titanian magnetite, fayalite and accessory chlorite-group minerals, ferrosapo- nite, a member of the annite–phlogopite series, hornblende, actinolite, epidote, calcite, ankerite, apatite and baddeleyite. The mineral is found in composite microglobules composed of bornite, chalcocite, digenite, chalcopyrite, with rare cobalt pentlandite, cobaltoan pentlandite, sphalerite, keithconnite, vasilite, zvyagintsevite, (Cu,Pd,Au) and Pt-Fe-Cu-Pd alloys, unnamed PdCu3, (Pd,Cu,Sn), Au3Cu and PdAuCu. Skaergaardite occurs as droplets, equant grains with rounded outlines, subhedral to euhedral crystals and as irregular grains that vary in size from 2 to 75 mm, averaging 22 mm. It is steel grey with a bronze tint, has a black streak, a metallic lustre and is sectile.
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