Spiridonovite, (Cu1-xAgx)2Te (x ≈ 0.4), a New Telluride from the Good Hope Mine, Vulcan, Colorado (U.S.A.)

Abstract

Here we describe a new mineral in the Cu-Ag-Te system, spiridonovite. The specimen was discovered in a fragment from the cameronite [ideally, Cu5-x(Cu,Ag)3+xTe10] holotype material from the Good Hope mine, Vulcan, Colorado (U.S.A.). It occurs as black grains of subhedral to anhedral morphology, with a maximum size up to 65 μm, and shows black streaks. No cleavage is observed and the Vickers hardness (VHN100) is 158 kg·mm-2. Reflectance percentages in air for Rmin and Rmax are 38.1, 38.9 (471.1 nm), 36.5, 37.3 (548.3 nm), 35.8, 36.5 (586.6 nm), 34.7, 35.4 (652.3 nm). Spiridonovite has formula (Cu1.24Ag0.75)Σ1.99Te1.01, ideally (Cu1-xAgx)2Te (x ≈ 0.4). The mineral is trigonal and belongs to the space group P-3c1, with the following unit-cell parameters: a = 4.630(2) Å, c = 22.551(9) Å, V = 418.7(4) Å 3, and Z = 6. The crystal structure has been solved and refined to R1 = 0.0256. It can be described as a rhombohedrally-compressed antifluorite structure, with a rough ccp arrangement of Te atoms. It consists of two Te sites and three M (metal) sites, occupied by Cu and Ag, and is characterized by the presence of edge-sharing tetrahedra, where the four-fold coordinated M atoms lie. The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (No. 2018-136).