Mapiquiroite, (Sr,Pb)(U,Y)Fe2 (Ti,Fe3+)18O38, a new member of the crichtonite group from the Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy
Biagioni, Cristian; Orlandi, Paolo; Pasero, Marco; Nestola, Fabrizio; Bindi, Luca
European Journal of Mineralogy Volume 26 Number 3 (2014), p. 427 - 437
published: Jul 3, 2014
Abstract
Mapiquiroite, (Sr, Pb)(U, Y)Fe2(Ti, Fe3+)18O38, was identified as a new mineral from the baryte + pyrite + iron oxide ores of Buca della Vena (BdV) and Monte Arsiccio (MA) mines, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. At BdV, mapiquiroite occurs as complex rhombohedral or tabular pseudo-hexagonal crystals, up to 1 mm in size, black in colour, with a sub-metallic lustre, in quartz + 'adularia' + baryte veins embedded in schists, in association with allanite-(Ce), anatase, destinezite, gypsum, monazite-(Ce), pyrite, rutile, and 'tourmaline'; at MA, mapiquiroite forms tabular pseudo-hexagonal crystals, up to 5 mm in size, in quartz + carbonate veins embedded in magnetite-rich dolostones, in association with baryte, boulangerite, derbylite, siderite, and sphalerite. Under the microscope, mapiquiroite is blackish in colour, weakly bireflectant, and non-pleochroic. Internal reflections are absent. Anisotropism is distinct, without characteristic rotation tints. Minimum and maximum reflectance data for COM wavelengths [λ (nm), R air (%); data for the specimens from BdV and MA, respectively] are: 471.1, 17.0/17.2 and 17.7/18.0; 548.3, 16.7/17.0 and 17.6/17.8; 586.6, 16.4/16.7 and 17.3/17.7; 652.3, 16.1/16.3 and 17.0/17.3. Vickers hardness is 750 kg · mm–2 and 782 kg · mm–2 for specimens from BdV and MA, respectively, corresponding to a Mohs' hardness ∼ 6. The chemical data point to the formulae (Sr0.533La0.176Pb0.105Na0.030Ca0.026)Σ =0.870(U0.407Ce0.101Y0.205Mn0.072)Σ =0.785Fe3+ 2.000(Ti12.423Fe3+ 3.345Cr1.624V5+ 0.129Al0.032Sn0.013Nb0.007)Σ=17.573 O38 (BdV) and (Sr0.312Pb0.248Na0.019Ca0.014La0.009)Σ=0.602(U0.858Y0.070Ce0.021Mn0.005)Σ=0.954(Fe3+ 1.695 Zn0.305)Σ=2.000(Ti12.070Fe3+ 4.987V5+ 0.372Al0.030Nb0.030Cr0.015Sn0.001)Σ=17.505O38 (MA). Mapiquiroite is trigonal, R3, with a 10.3719(7), c 20.875(1) Å, V 1944.8(2) Å3 and a 10.3854(3), c 20.8942(6) Å, V 1951.7(1) Å3 for the specimens from BdV and MA, respectively. The crystal structures of mapiquiroite from these two occurrences were refined to R 1 = 0.028 and 0.032, respectively. Mapiquiroite is isostructural with other members of the crichtonite group. The name mapiquiroite honours four Italian mineral collectors, Riccardo Mazzanti, Luigi Pierotti, Ugo Quilici, and Moreno Romani for their contribution to the study of the mineralogy of baryte + pyrite + iron oxide deposits from the Apuan Alps.
Keywords
apuan alps • buca della vena • crichtonite group • crystal structure • italy • mapiquiroite • monte arsiccio • new mineral • strontium uranium iron titanate • tuscany
