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Letter: Actinides in Geology, Energy, and the Environment. Evidence for nanocrystals of vorlanite, a rare uranate mineral, in the Nopal I low-temperature uranium deposit (Sierra Peña Blanca, Mexico)

  • Guillaume Othmane EMAIL logo , Thierry Allard , Nicolas Menguy , Guillaume Morin , Imène Esteve , Mostafa Fayek and Georges Calas
Published/Copyright: March 7, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 98 Issue 2-3

Abstract

The occurrence of vorlanite, cubic CaUO4, is reported in the Nopal I uranium deposit (Sierra Peña Blanca, Mexico). This is the first time this rare calcium uranate has been found displaying a cubic morphology, in agreement with its crystal structure. Vorlanite occurs as nanoscale crystals embedded in U-bearing opal, with a Ca/U ratio of ~1. Association with opal suggests that vorlanite formed at Nopal during late-stage U-mobilization under oxidizing conditions and low (<50 °C) temperature. The presence of nanoscale uranate crystals in an environment largely dominated by uranyl silicates indicates that uranates may play a role in uranium scavenging at low temperature. In addition, the occurrence of vorlanite in the crystal shape consistent with its structure provides unique information on its conditions of formation.

Keywords : Vorlanite; cubic CaUO4; uranate; nanoscale crystal; opal; Nopal
Received: 2012-7-13
Accepted: 2012-9-26
Published Online: 2015-3-7
Published in Print: 2013-2-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Pressure-induced structural transformations in the low-cristobalite form of AlPO4
  2. Hydrokenomicrolite, (□,H2O)2Ta2(O,OH)6(H2O), a new microlite-group mineral from Volta Grande pegmatite, Nazareno, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  3. Fluor-elbaite, Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3F, a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup
  4. Microtexture development during rapid cooling in three rhyolitic lava flows
  5. Microbial and inorganic control on the composition of clay from volcanic glass alteration experiments
  6. High-pressure experiments on phase transition boundaries between corundum, Rh2O3(II)- and CaIrO3-type structures in Al2O3
  7. Electronic structure effects in the vectorial bond-valence model
  8. Geometric analysis of radiation damage connectivity in zircon, and its implications for helium diffusion
  9. Superstructure, crystal chemistry, and cation distribution in filipstadite, a Sb5+-bearing, spinel-related mineral
  10. A high-temperature Brillouin scattering study on four compositions of haplogranitic glasses and melts: High-frequency elastic behavior through the glass transition
  11. Hydrogen isotope fractionation between coexisting hydrous melt and silicate-saturated aqueous fluid: An experimental study in situ at high pressure and temperature
  12. Eclogitic clasts with omphacite and pyrope-rich garnet in the NWA 801 CR2 chondrite
  13. Hydration properties of synthetic high-charge micas saturated with different cations: An experimental approach
  14. Quantitative analyses of powdered multi-minerallic carbonate aggregates using a portable Raman spectrometer
  15. Periodic ab initio bulk investigation of hydroxylapatite and type A carbonated apatite with both pseudopotential and all-electron basis sets for calcium atoms
  16. Coexisting pseudobrookite, ilmenite, and titanomagnetite in hornblende andesite of the Coleman Pinnacle flow, Mount Baker, Washington: Evidence for a highly oxidized arc magma
  17. Geochemistry of pyrochlore minerals from the Motzfeldt Center, South Greenland: The mineralogy of a syenite-hosted Ta, Nb deposit
  18. Phosphovanadylite-Ca, Ca[V4 4+P2O8(OH)8]·12H2O, the Ca analogue of phosphovanadylite-Ba
  19. The relationship between REE-Y-Nb-Th minerals and the evolution of an A-type granite, Wentworth Pluton, Nova Scotia
  20. Prewittite, KPb1.5Cu6Zn(SeO3)2O2Cl10, a new mineral from Tolbachik fumaroles, Kamchatka peninsula, Russia: Description and crystal structure
  21. Lucabindiite, (K,NH4)As4O6(Cl,Br), a new fumarole mineral from the “La Fossa” crater at Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  22. Scottyite, the natural analog of synthetic BaCu2Si2O7, a new mineral from the Wessels mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa
  23. Oxy-schorl, Na(Fe2 2+Al)Al6Si6O18(BO3)3(OH)3O, a new mineral from Zlatá Idka, Slovak Republic and Přibyslavice, Czech Republic
  24. Crystal chemistry and hydrogen bonding of rustumite Ca10(Si2O7)2(SiO4)(OH)2Cl2 with variable OH, Cl, F
  25. Oxy-vanadium-dravite, NaV3(V4Mg2)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O: Crystal structure and redefinition of the “vanadium-dravite” tourmaline
  26. Lead-tellurium oxysalts from Otto Mountain near Baker, California: VIII. Fuettererite, Pb3Cu2+ 6 Te6+O6(OH)7Cl5, a new mineral with double spangolite-type sheets
  27. Lead-tellurium oxysalts from Otto Mountain near Baker, California: IX. Agaite, Pb3Cu2+Te6+O5(OH)2(CO3), a new mineral with CuO5-TeO6 polyhedral sheets
  28. Letter: Actinides in Geology, Energy, and the Environment. Evidence for nanocrystals of vorlanite, a rare uranate mineral, in the Nopal I low-temperature uranium deposit (Sierra Peña Blanca, Mexico)
https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2013.4295
Keywords for this article
Vorlanite; cubic CaUO4; uranate; nanoscale crystal; opal; Nopal

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Pressure-induced structural transformations in the low-cristobalite form of AlPO4
  2. Hydrokenomicrolite, (□,H2O)2Ta2(O,OH)6(H2O), a new microlite-group mineral from Volta Grande pegmatite, Nazareno, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  3. Fluor-elbaite, Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3F, a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup
  4. Microtexture development during rapid cooling in three rhyolitic lava flows
  5. Microbial and inorganic control on the composition of clay from volcanic glass alteration experiments
  6. High-pressure experiments on phase transition boundaries between corundum, Rh2O3(II)- and CaIrO3-type structures in Al2O3
  7. Electronic structure effects in the vectorial bond-valence model
  8. Geometric analysis of radiation damage connectivity in zircon, and its implications for helium diffusion
  9. Superstructure, crystal chemistry, and cation distribution in filipstadite, a Sb5+-bearing, spinel-related mineral
  10. A high-temperature Brillouin scattering study on four compositions of haplogranitic glasses and melts: High-frequency elastic behavior through the glass transition
  11. Hydrogen isotope fractionation between coexisting hydrous melt and silicate-saturated aqueous fluid: An experimental study in situ at high pressure and temperature
  12. Eclogitic clasts with omphacite and pyrope-rich garnet in the NWA 801 CR2 chondrite
  13. Hydration properties of synthetic high-charge micas saturated with different cations: An experimental approach
  14. Quantitative analyses of powdered multi-minerallic carbonate aggregates using a portable Raman spectrometer
  15. Periodic ab initio bulk investigation of hydroxylapatite and type A carbonated apatite with both pseudopotential and all-electron basis sets for calcium atoms
  16. Coexisting pseudobrookite, ilmenite, and titanomagnetite in hornblende andesite of the Coleman Pinnacle flow, Mount Baker, Washington: Evidence for a highly oxidized arc magma
  17. Geochemistry of pyrochlore minerals from the Motzfeldt Center, South Greenland: The mineralogy of a syenite-hosted Ta, Nb deposit
  18. Phosphovanadylite-Ca, Ca[V4 4+P2O8(OH)8]·12H2O, the Ca analogue of phosphovanadylite-Ba
  19. The relationship between REE-Y-Nb-Th minerals and the evolution of an A-type granite, Wentworth Pluton, Nova Scotia
  20. Prewittite, KPb1.5Cu6Zn(SeO3)2O2Cl10, a new mineral from Tolbachik fumaroles, Kamchatka peninsula, Russia: Description and crystal structure
  21. Lucabindiite, (K,NH4)As4O6(Cl,Br), a new fumarole mineral from the “La Fossa” crater at Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  22. Scottyite, the natural analog of synthetic BaCu2Si2O7, a new mineral from the Wessels mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa
  23. Oxy-schorl, Na(Fe2 2+Al)Al6Si6O18(BO3)3(OH)3O, a new mineral from Zlatá Idka, Slovak Republic and Přibyslavice, Czech Republic
  24. Crystal chemistry and hydrogen bonding of rustumite Ca10(Si2O7)2(SiO4)(OH)2Cl2 with variable OH, Cl, F
  25. Oxy-vanadium-dravite, NaV3(V4Mg2)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O: Crystal structure and redefinition of the “vanadium-dravite” tourmaline
  26. Lead-tellurium oxysalts from Otto Mountain near Baker, California: VIII. Fuettererite, Pb3Cu2+ 6 Te6+O6(OH)7Cl5, a new mineral with double spangolite-type sheets
  27. Lead-tellurium oxysalts from Otto Mountain near Baker, California: IX. Agaite, Pb3Cu2+Te6+O5(OH)2(CO3), a new mineral with CuO5-TeO6 polyhedral sheets
  28. Letter: Actinides in Geology, Energy, and the Environment. Evidence for nanocrystals of vorlanite, a rare uranate mineral, in the Nopal I low-temperature uranium deposit (Sierra Peña Blanca, Mexico)
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