Feynmanite, a new sodium uranyl sulfate mineral from Red Canyon, San Juan County, Utah, USA

Abstract

The new mineral feynmanite, Na(UO2)(SO4)(OH)·3.5H2O, was found in both the Blue Lizard and Markey mines, San Juan County, Utah, USA, where it occurs as a secondary phase on pyrite-rich asphaltum in association with chinleite-(Y), gypsum, goethite, natrojarosite, natrozippeite, plášilite, shumwayite (Blue Lizard) and wetherillite (Markey). The mineral is pale greenish yellow with a white streak and fluoresces bright greenish white under a 405 nm laser. Crystals are transparent with a vitreous lustre. It is brittle, with a Mohs hardness of ~2, irregular fracture and one perfect cleavage on {010}. The calculated density is 3.324 g cm–3. Crystals are thin needles or blades, flattened on {010} and elongate on [100], exhibiting the forms {010}, {001}, {101} and {10$\bar{1}$}, and are up to ~0.1 mm in length. Feynmanite is optically biaxial (–), with α = 1.534(2), β = 1.561(2) and γ = 1.571(2) (white light); 2Vmeas. = 62(2)°; no dispersion; and optical orientation: X = b, Y ≈ a, Z ≈ c. It is weakly pleochroic: X = colourless, Y = very pale green yellow and Z = pale green yellow (X < Y < Z). Electron microprobe analyses (WDS mode) provided (Na0.84Fe0.01)(U1.01O2)(S1.01O4)(OH)·3.5H2O. The five strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines are [dobs Å(I)(hkl)]: 8.37(100)(010), 6.37(33)($\bar{1}$01,101), 5.07(27)($\bar{1}$11,111), 4.053(46)(004,021) and 3.578(34)(120). Feynmanite is monoclinic, has space group P2/n, a = 6.927(3), b = 8.355(4), c = 16.210(7) Å, β = 90.543(4)°, V = 938.1(7) Å3 and Z = 4. The structure of feynmanite (R1 = 0.0371 for 1879 Io > 2σI) contains edge-sharing pairs of pentagonal bipyramids that are linked by sharing corners with SO4 groups, yielding a [(UO2)2(SO4)2(OH)2]2– sheet based on the phosphuranylite anion topology. The sheet is topologically identical to those in deliensite, johannite and plášilite. The dehydration of feynmanite to plášilite results in interlayer collapse involving geometric reconfiguration of the sheets and the ordering of Na.

Oldsite, K2Fe2+[(UO2)(SO4)2]2(H2O)8, a new uranyl sulfate mineral from Utah, USA: its description and implications for the formation and occurrences of uranyl sulfate minerals

“…Perhaps of greater impact, however, has been the recognition that studies of low-temperature uranyl phases provide highly valuable insights into the transport of uranium in environmental systems. In the past, scientists investigating ore deposits tended to overlook or only superficially consider post-mining mineral assemblages, focusing on ore minerals and their formation Burns, 2001;Burns et al, 2003;Kampf et al, 2014Kampf et al, , 2015aKampf et al, , 2015bKampf et al, , 2015cKampf et al, , 2017aKampf et al, , 2017bKampf et al, , 2017cKampf et al, , 2017dKampf et al, , 2018aKampf et al, , 2018bKampf et al, , 2019aKampf et al, , 2019bKampf et al, , 2019cKampf et al, , 2020Kampf et al, , 2021Kampf et al, , 2022aKampf et al, , 2022bKampf et al, , 2022cKasatkin et al, 2022, Mereiter, 1982Pekov et al, 2014;Plášil et al, 2011Plášil et al, , 2012aPlášil et al, , 2012bPlášil et al, , 2012cPlášil et al, , 2013aPlášil et al, , 2013bPlášil et al, , 2014aPlášil et al, , 2014cPlášil et al, , 2015aPlášil et al, , 2015bPlášil and Škoda, 2015. processes. For example, at Jáchymov (formerly known under the German name St. Joachimsthal) in the Czech part of Erzgebirge mountains, Schneeberg and Johanngeorgenstadt (in the German part of Erzgebirge), or Krunkelbach (Schwarzwald, Germany), studies generally focused on hydrothermal vein mineralisation.…”

“…5.Ternary diagram showing the composition of the 42 well-characterised uranyl sulfate minerals. References: Burns, 2001; Burns et al ., 2003; Kampf et al ., 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2017d, 2018a, 2018b, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c, 2020, 2021, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c; Kasatkin et al ., 2022, Mereiter, 1982; Pekov et al ., 2014; Plášil et al ., 2011, 2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2013a, 2013b, 2014a, 2014c, 2015a, 2015b; Plášil and Škoda, 2015.

Fig. 6.The structural units of 42 well-characterised uranyl sulfate minerals characterised by the charge-deficiency per anion ( CDA ) value and its relationship with the molar proportion of the H 2 O and SO 4 in the structural units (s.u.).

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“…Ternary diagram showing the composition of the 42 well-characterised uranyl sulfate minerals. References:Burns, 2001;Burns et al, 2003;Kampf et al, 2014Kampf et al, , 2015aKampf et al, , 2015bKampf et al, , 2015cKampf et al, , 2017aKampf et al, , 2017bKampf et al, , 2017cKampf et al, , 2017dKampf et al, , 2018aKampf et al, , 2018bKampf et al, , 2019aKampf et al, , 2019bKampf et al, , 2019cKampf et al, , 2020Kampf et al, , 2021Kampf et al, , 2022aKampf et al, , 2022bKampf et al, , 2022cKasatkin et al, 2022, Mereiter, 1982Pekov et al, 2014;Plášil et al, 2011Plášil et al, , 2012aPlášil et al, , 2012bPlášil et al, , 2012cPlášil et al, , 2013aPlášil et al, , 2013bPlášil et al, , 2014aPlášil et al, , 2014cPlášil et al, , 2015aPlášil et al, , 2015bPlášil and Škoda, 2015.…”

Paramarkeyite, a new calcium–uranyl–carbonate mineral from the Markey mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA

“…It occurs on gypsum-coated asphaltum in association with andersonite, calcite, gypsum and natromarkeyite (Kampf et al , 2020a). Other new minerals recently described from the Markey mine are feynmanite (Kampf et al , 2019a), leószilárdite (Olds et al , 2017), magnesioleydetite (Kampf et al , 2019b), markeyite (Kampf et al , 2018), meyrowitzite (Kampf et al , 2019c), pseudomarkeyite (Kampf et al , 2020a), straβmannite (Kampf et al , 2019b) and uroxite (Kampf et al , 2020b).…”

Magnesioleydetite and straβmannite, two new uranyl sulfate minerals with sheet structures from Red Canyon, Utah

“…The Green Lizard mine is also a type locality for greenlizardite (Kampf et al ., 2018 b ), shumwayite (Kampf et al ., 2017 b ) and meitnerite (Kampf et al ., 2018 c ). The Markey mine is also a type locality for feynmanite (Kampf et al ., 2019), leószilárdite (Olds et al ., 2017) and markeyite (Kampf et al, 2018 a ).…”