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Aktashite Cu6Hg3As4S12 from the Aktash deposit, Altai, Russia: Refinement and crystal chemical analysis of the structure

  • Mineralogical Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry
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Abstract

The composition and structure of aktashite from the Aktash deposit, Gorny Altai, Russia, have been studied by electron microprobe and X-ray structural analysis. On the basis of close compositions and crystal structures, the identity of aktashite from the Gal-Khaya and Aktash deposits has been demonstrated. Crystals of aktashite are of trigonal symmetry; the unit-cell dimensions are: a = 13.7500(4), c = 9.3600(3) Å, V = 532.54(8) Å3, space group R3, Z = 3 for the composition of Cu6Hg3As4S12, R = 0.043. The structure of aktashite as a framework of vertex-shared HgS4− and CuS4− tetrahedrons of the same orientation is intimately related to the sphalerite-type structure. The earlier identified uncommon cluster group [As4] has been verified and its parameters have been refined. It is shown that the structure may be represented as construction blocks (As4S12)12− packed according to the law of the distorted cubic I-cell.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    V. I. Vasil’ev

  2. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Lavrent’eva 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    N. V. Pervukhina, S. V. Borisov, S. A. Magarill, D. Yu. Naumov & N. V. Kurat’eva

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  1. V. I. Vasil’ev
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  2. N. V. Pervukhina
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  3. S. V. Borisov
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  4. S. A. Magarill
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  5. D. Yu. Naumov
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  6. N. V. Kurat’eva
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Correspondence to V. I. Vasil’ev.

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Original Russian Text © V.I. Vasil’ev, N.V. Pervukhina, S.V. Borisov, S.A. Magarill, D.Yu. Naumov, N.V. Kurat’eva, 2009, published in Zapiski RMO (Proceedings of the Russian Mineralogical Society), 2009, No. 2, pp. 75–82.

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Vasil’ev, V.I., Pervukhina, N.V., Borisov, S.V. et al. Aktashite Cu6Hg3As4S12 from the Aktash deposit, Altai, Russia: Refinement and crystal chemical analysis of the structure. Geol. Ore Deposits 52, 656–661 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701510070184

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701510070184

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