• Nadezhda V. Shchipalkina
  • Nikita V. Chukanov
  • Igor V. Pekov
  • Sergey M. Aksenov
  • Catherine McCammon
  • Dmitry I. Belakovskiy
  • Sergey N. Britvin
  • Natalya N. Koshlyakova
  • Christof Schäfer
  • Ricardo Scholz
  • Ramiza K. Rastsvetaeva

The new mineral ferrorhodonite, a Mn2+–Fe2+ ordered analogue of rhodonite with the idealized formula CaMn3Fe[Si5O15], was found in the manganese-rich metamorphic rocks of the Broken Hill Pb–Zn–Ag deposit, Yancowinna Co., New South Wales, Australia. Ferrorhodonite occurs as brownish red coarsely crystalline aggregates in association with galena, chalcopyrite, spessartine, and quartz. The mineral is brittle. Its Mohs hardness is 6. Cleavage is perfect on {201} and good on {021} and {210}. The measured and calculated values of density are 3.71 (2) and 3.701 g cm−3, respectively. Ferrorhodonite is optically biaxial positive, with α = 1.731 (4), β = 1.736 (4), γ = 1.745 (5) and 2 V (meas.) = 80 (10)°. The average chemical composition of ferrorhodonite is (electron-microprobe data, wt%): CaO 7.09, MgO 0.24, MnO 32.32, FeO 14.46, ZnO 0.36, SiO2 46.48, and total 100.95. The empirical formula calculated on 15 O apfu (Z = 2) is Ca0.81Mn2.92Fe1.29Mg0.04Zn0.03Si4.96O15. The Mössbauer and IR spectra are reported. The strongest reflections in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [(d, Å (I, %) (hkl)] are: 3.337 (32) (−1–13), 3.132 (54) (−210), 3.091 (41) (0–23), 2.968 (100) (−2–11), 2.770 (91) (022), 2.223 (34) (−204), 2.173 (30) (−310). Ferrorhodonite is isostructural with rhodonite. The crystal structure was solved based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and refined to R1 = 4.02% [for 3114 reflections with I > 2σ(I)]. The mineral is triclinic, space group P1 ¯ , a = 6.6766 (5), b = 7.6754 (6), c = 11.803 (1) Å, α = 105.501 (1)°, β = 92.275 (1)°, γ = 93.919 (1)°; V = 580.44 (1). The crystal-chemical formula of ferrorhodonite inferred to be: M5(Ca0.81Mn0.19) M1−3(Mn2.52Fe0.48) M4(Fe0.81 2+Mn0.12Mg0.04Zn0.03) [Si5O15].

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)323-334
Number of pages12
JournalPhysics and Chemistry of Minerals
Volume44
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2017

    Research areas

  • Australia, Broken Hill, Cation order, Crystal structure, Ferrorhodonite, Mössbauer spectroscopy, New mineral species, Pyroxenoid, Rhodonite

    Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

ID: 9274395