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Verbeekite, monoclinic PdSe2, a new mineral from the Musonoi Cu-Co-Mn-U mine, near Kolwezi, Shaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

A. C. Roberts ,
W. H. Paar ,
M. A. Cooper ,
D. Topa ,
A. J. Criddle  and
J. Jedwab
A. C. Roberts*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E8, Canada
W. H. Paar
Affiliation:
Institut für Mineralogie der Universität, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
M. A. Cooper
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada
D. Topa
Affiliation:
Institut für Mineralogie der Universität, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
A. J. Criddle
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
J. Jedwab
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Géochimie et de Mineralogie, CP160/02 - Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50, Avenue Roosevelt, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
*
*E-mail: aroberts@NRCan.gc.ca
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Abstract

Verbeekite, ideally PdSe2, monoclinic with space-group choices C2/m, C2 or Cm; a = 6.659(7), b = 4.124(5), c = 4.438(6) Å, ß = 92.76(3)°, V = 121.7(4) Å3; a:b:c = 1.6147:1:1.0761, Z = 2, is a new, very rare, primary mineral, intimately associated with secondary oosterboschite {(Pd,Cu)7Se5}, from the Musonoi Cu-Co-Mn-U mine, near Kolwezi, Shaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Additional associated minerals are Cu- and Pd-bearing trogtalite {(Co,Cu,Pd)Se2}, Se-bearing digenite and Se-bearing covellite. The strongest five lines of the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern {d in Å (I) (hkl)} are: 4.423(30)(001), 3.496 (30)(110), 2.718(100)(111), 1.955(50)(310 and 1.896(50)(12). The mineral has also been identified, as a single anhedral 25 µm-sized grain, from Hope's Nose, Torquay, Devon, England where it is associated with native gold, chrisstanleyite Ag2Pd3Se4, oosterboschite(?), unnamed Pd2HgSe3 and cerussite. At Musonoi, altered verbeekite grains do not exceed 200 µm in size and are anhedral, black, with a black streak and a metallic lustre. The mineral is opaque, brittle, has an uneven fracture, and lacks discernible cleavage. The VHN5 ranges 490–610, mean 550 kp/mm2 (2 indentations), roughly approximating a Mohs' hardness of 5Ý. Dcalc. = 7.211 g/cm3 for the ideal formula. Electron-microprobe analyses (mean of 4 spot analyses) yielded Pd 39.6, Cu 0.5, Se 58.8, total 98.9 wt.%. The empirical formula is (Pd0.99Cu0.02)σ1.01Se1.99, based on Pd+Cu+Se = 3. In plane-polarized reflected light, the mineral is a nondescript grey and is neither pleochroic nor perceptibly bireflectant. Anisotropy is moderate with rotation tints in varying shades of brown. Reflectance spectra and colour values are tabulated. The name honours Dr Théodore Verbeek (1927–1991) who was the first geoscientist to study the Musonoi palladium mineralization in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1955–1967) and who co-discovered this new mineral phase.

Keywords

verbeekitepalladium diselenideX-ray dataelectron-microprobe datareflectance dataMusonoi Cu-Co-Mn-U mineKolweziShaba ProvinceDemocratic Republic of CongoHope’s NoseTorquayDevonEngland
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , February 2002 , pp. 173 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2002

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