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Leesite, K(H2O)2[(UO2)4O2(OH)5]·3H2O, a new K-bearing schoepite-family mineral from the Jomac mine, San Juan County, Utah, U.S.A

  • Travis A. Olds EMAIL logo , Jakub Plášil , Anthony R. Kampf , Tyler Spano , Patrick Haynes , Shawn M. Carlson , Peter C. Burns , Antonio Simonetti and Owen P. Mills
Published/Copyright: January 2, 2018
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 103 Issue 1

Abstract

Leesite (IMA2016-064), K(H2O)2[(UO2)4O2(OH)5]·3H2O, is a new uranyl-oxide hydroxyl-hydrate found underground in the Jomac mine, Brown’s Rim, White Canyon mining district, San Juan County, Utah. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses provided the empirical formula K0.67Na0.004Ca0.012U4O20H15.31, based on 4 U and 20 O apfu. Sheets in the crystal structure of leesite adopt the fourmarierite anion topology, and so belong to the schoepite family of related structures that differ in the interlayer composition and arrangement, and charge of the sheet. Leesite may form as one of the principal components of “gummite” mixtures formed during the alteration of uraninite, and the unit cell of leesite resembles the previously described, but poorly understood mineral, paraschoepite. Uptake of dangerous radionuclides (90Sr, 135Cs, 137Cs, 237Np, 238Pu) into the structure of leesite and other members of the family has important implications for the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

Keywords: Leesite; sheet anion topology; schoepite; uranium; uraninite; crystal structure

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Materials Science of Actinides Energy Frontier Research Center (DE-SC0001089). The Element2 HR-ICP-MS instrument used for chemical analyses is housed within the Midwest Isotope and Trace Element Research Analytical Center (MITERAC) at the University of Notre Dame. Electron microscopy was carried out in the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory at Michigan Technological University. The John Jago Trelawney Endowment to the Mineral Sciences Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County funded a portion of this study. Jakub Plášil is thankful for the support from the project GACR 15-12653S.

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Received: 2017-1-19
Accepted: 2017-9-16
Published Online: 2018-1-2
Published in Print: 2018-1-26

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2018-6083
Keywords for this article
Leesite; sheet anion topology; schoepite; uranium; uraninite; crystal structure

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  2. The third isotope of the third element on the third planet
  4. Visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared spectral characterization of Hawaiian fumarolic alteration near Kilauea’s December 1974 flow: Implications for spectral discrimination of alteration environments on Mars
  6. Magnetite-apatite deposit from Sri Lanka: Implications on Kiruna-type mineralization associated with ultramafic intrusion and mantle metasomatism
  8. The ore-forming magmatic-hydrothermal system of the Piaotang W-Sn deposit (Jiangxi, China) as seen from Li-mica geochemistry
  10. Chlorine incorporation into amphibole and biotite in high-grade iron-formations: Interplay between crystallography and metamorphic fluids
  12. Depth of formation of super-deep diamonds: Raman barometry of CaSiO3-walstromite inclusions
  14. Microtexture investigation of amblygonite–montebrasite series with lacroixite: Characteristics and formation process in pegmatites
  16. Sound velocity measurements of hcp Fe-Si alloy at high pressure and high temperature by inelastic X-ray scattering
  18. New insights into the metallogeny of MVT Zn-Pb deposits: A case study from the Nayongzhi in South China, using field data, fluid compositions, and in situ S-Pb isotopes
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