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Svornostite-(NH4), (NH4)2Mg(UO2)2(SO4)4(H2O)8, a new mineral from the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA, and the establishment of the svornostite mineral group

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2025

Anthony R. Kampf Open the ORCID record for Anthony R. Kampf [Opens in a new window] ,
Travis A. Olds Open the ORCID record for Travis A. Olds [Opens in a new window] ,
Jakub Plášil Open the ORCID record for Jakub Plášil [Opens in a new window] ,
Chi Ma Open the ORCID record for Chi Ma [Opens in a new window] ,
Aaron J. Celestian Open the ORCID record for Aaron J. Celestian [Opens in a new window]  and
Joe Marty
Anthony R. Kampf*
Affiliation:
Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Travis A. Olds
Affiliation:
Section of Minerals and Earth Sciences, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Jakub Plášil
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics of the CAS, Prague 8, Czech Republic
Chi Ma
Affiliation:
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Aaron J. Celestian
Affiliation:
Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Joe Marty
Affiliation:
Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Anthony R. Kampf; Email: akampf@nhm.org
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Abstract

The new mineral svornostite-(NH4) (IMA2024-068), (NH4)2Mg(UO2)2(SO4)4(H2O)8, was found in the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA, where it occurs as sprays and subparallel groups of yellow blades in a secondary assemblage with ammoniozippeite, blödite, boussingaultite, gypsum, hexahydrite, kröhnkite, plášilite and quartz. The streak is very pale yellow. Crystals are transparent with vitreous lustre. The tenacity is brittle, the Mohs hardness is ∼2½, the fracture is curved. The mineral is soluble in H2O and has a measured density of 3.06(2) g·cm–3. The mineral is optically biaxial (+) with α = 1.560(2), β = 1.564(2), γ = 1.589(2); 2V = 43(1)°; orientation: X = a, Y = b, Z = c; pleochroism: X colourless, Y yellow, Z yellow; X < Y ≈ Z. Electron microprobe analyses provided [(NH4)1.895Na0.065K0.040]Σ2.000(Mg0.755Mn0.252)Σ1.007(U0.996O2)2(S1.002O4)4(H1.998O)8. Svornostite-(NH4) is orthorhombic, Pmn21, a = 13.0259(9), b = 8.2909(4), c = 11.2589(4) Å, V = 1215.92(11) Å3 and Z = 2. The crystal structure (R1 = 0.0243 for 2222 I > 2σI reflections) contains uranyl-sulfate chains that are linked into sheets by MgO2(H2O)4 octahedra and 9- and 10-coordinated NH4+ groups. The sheet has the same topology as the sheets in several synthetic uranyl selenates. Svornostite-(NH4) is a member of the newly established svornostite group, which also includes svornostite-(K), oldsite-(K), rietveldite and zincorietveldite.

Keywords

svornostite-(NH4)new mineralsvornostite groupuranyl sulfatecrystal structuresvornostite-(K)oldsite-(K)rietvelditezincorietvelditeBlue Lizard mineRed CanyonUtahUSA

Information

Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 89 , Issue 5 , October 2025 , pp. 609 - 617
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Peter Leverett

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