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Structural and chemical study of weishanite, (Au,Ag,Hg), from the Keystone mine, Colorado, USA.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2018

Luca Bindi ,
Frank N. Keutsch  and
Giovanni O. Lepore
Luca Bindi*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, I-50121 Firenze, Italy
Frank N. Keutsch
Affiliation:
Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA-02138, USA
Giovanni O. Lepore
Affiliation:
CNR-IOM-OGG, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, F-38043 Grenoble, France
*
*E-mail: luca.bindi@unifi.it
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Abstract

Structural data for weishanite, an alloy of Au, Ag and Hg, were collected for the first time from a crystal from the Keystone Mine, Colorado, USA. The structure was solved in the space group P63/mmc with the unit cell a = 2.9348(8) and c = 4.8215(18) Å] and refined to R = 0.0299 for 40 observed reflections [4σ(F) level] and four parameters and to R = 0.0356 for all 47 independent reflections. The weishanite structure can be considered a derivative of the zinc structure, with Au, Ag and Hg disordered in the same structural position. On this basis, we suggest that the formula is normalized to 1 atom with Z = 2, leading, for the sample investigated, to Au0.41Ag0.31Hg0.28 (electron microprobe data). Accordingly, weishanite can be considered the Au-rich isotype of schachnerite. A comparison with other Au/Ag-Hg alloys is presented together with a critical discussion about the nomenclature rules to be applied to alloys and simple metals.

Keywords

weishanitecrystal structuregoldsilvermercurygold–silver alloysamalgamnomenclature rules
Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 82 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 1141 - 1145
Copyright
Copyright © Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2018 

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: David Hibbs

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