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Roxbyite, a New Copper Sulphide Mineral from the Olympic Dam Deposit, Roxby Downs, South Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

W. G. Mumme ,
G. J. Sparrow  and
G. S. Walker
W. G. Mumme
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry, P.O. Box 124, Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207, Australia
G. J. Sparrow
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry, P.O. Box 124, Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207, Australia
G. S. Walker
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Minerals and Geochemistry, Curtin University of Technology, Hayman Road, Bentley, W.A. 6102, Australia
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Abstract

Roxbyite (Cu1.74–1.82S), a new mineral, was isolated from drill core from the Olympic Dam deposit, from copper flotation concentrates from the Olympic Dam pilot plant, and from reaction residues obtained by treating certain concentrates with sulphuric acid. Powder X-ray diffraction data and the composition of the mineral are similar to results reported previously for the unnamed mineral of composition Cu1.83S (with a trace of iron) from the El Teniente deposit in Chile, and to copper sulphides of composition CuxS, 1.75 ⩽ x ⩽ 1.86, prepared electrochemically by several workers. A Weissenberg single-crystal study shows roxbyite to be monoclinic with a = 53.79, b = 30.90, c = 13.36Å, β = 90.0° and space group alternatives C2/m, Cm or C2. Some iron in the structure may stabilize the mineral.

Keywords

roxbyitecopper sulphidenew mineralRoxby Downs, South Australia
Type
Mineralogy and Crystal Structures
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 52 , Issue 366 , June 1988 , pp. 323 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1988

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