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Kurilite – Ag8Te3Se – a new mineral from the Prasolovskoe deposit, Kuril islands, Russian Federation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

V. A. Kovalenker ,
O. Yu. Plotinskaya ,
C. J. Stanley ,
A. C. Roberts ,
A. M. McDonald  and
M. A. Cooper
V. A. Kovalenker
Affiliation:
IGEM RAS, Staromonetny per. 35, 119017, Moscow, Russia
O. Yu. Plotinskaya*
Affiliation:
IGEM RAS, Staromonetny per. 35, 119017, Moscow, Russia
C. J. Stanley
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
A. C. Roberts
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0E8, Canada
A. M. McDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada
M. A. Cooper
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
*
*E-mail: plotin@igem.ru
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Abstract

Kurilite, with the simplified formula, Ag8Te3Se, is a new mineral from the Prasolovskoe epithermal Au-Ag deposit, Kunashir Island, Kuril arc, Russian Federation. It occurs as aggregates up to 2 mm in size, composed of brittle xenomorphic grains, up to several μm in size, in quartz, associated with tetrahedrite, hessite, sylvanite and petzite. Kurilite is opaque, grey, with a metallic lustre and a black streak. Under plane-polarized light, kurilite is white with no observed bireflectance, cleavage, or parting observed. Under crossed polars it appears isotropic without internal reflections. Reflectance values in air and in oil, are tabulated. It has a mean VHN (25 g load) of 99.9 kg/mm2 which equates roughly to a Mohs hardness of 3. Electron microprobe analyses yield a mean composition of Ag 63.71, Au 0.29, Te 29.48, Se 5.04, S 0.07, total 98.71 wt.%. The empirical formula (based on 12 atoms) is (Ag7.97Au0.02)Σ7.99Te3.00(Se0.86Te0.12S0.03)Σ1.01. The calculated density is 7.799 g/cm3 (based on the empirical formula and unit-cell parameters refined from single-crystal data). Kurilite is rhombohedral, R3 or , a 15.80(1), c 19.57(6) Å, V 4231(12)Å3, c:a 1.2386, Z = 15. Its crystal structure remains unsolved. The seven strongest lines of the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [d in Å (I)(hkl)] are: 3.727(20)(131), 2.996(50)(232), 2.510(30)(226,422), 2.201(100)(128,416,342), 2.152(20)(603), 2.079(30)(253), 2.046(20)(336,434). The mineral is named after the locality.

Keywords

Kurilitenew mineralPrasolovskoe depositepithermalgoldsilverKuril Island arctelluridesselenides
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , June 2010 , pp. 463 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2010

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