Bodieite, Bi3+2(Te4+O3)2(SO4), a New Mineral from the Tintic District, Utah, and the Masonic District, California, USA

Abstract

Bodieite (IMA2017-117), Bi^(3+)_2(Te^(4+)O_3)_2(SO_4), is a new mineral from a dump near the North Star mine, Tintic district, Juab County, Utah, and the Pittsburg-Liberty mine, Masonic district, Mono County, California, U.S.A. It is an oxidation-zone mineral occuring in vugs. Crystals occur in a variety of habits, including bladed, acicular, steep pyramidal, and stepped tabular; they are generally elongate on [001] and exhibit the forms {001}, {110}, {111}, and {111}. The mineral ranges in color from colorless to yellow to green. The streak is white, the luster is subadamantine to greasy, and crystals are transparent to translucent. The mineral is nonfluorescent under ultraviolet light. The Mohs hardness is about 2, the tenacity is brittle, the cleavage is fair on {001}, and the fracture is irregular, stepped. The calculated density is 6.465 g/cm^3. The mineral is readily soluble in dilute HCl at room temperature. Bodieite is biaxial (–) with all indices of refraction > 2; 2V_(meas)=71.5°; orientation X = b; nonpleochroic. The Raman spectrum exhibits bands clearly fitting tellurite and sulfate groups. Electron-microprobe analyses gave the empirical formula (Bi_(1.95)Te_(1.89)As_(0.14)Sb_(0.02)) _(Σ4.00)(S_(1.02)O_4)O_6. The mineral is monoclinic, space group I2/a, with a 8.1033(8), b 7.4302(8), c 14.6955(17) A, β 97.771(9)°, V=876.68(16) A^3, and Z=4. The six strongest X-ray powder diffraction lines are [d_(obs) A(I)(hkl)]: 7.31(20)(002), 3.331(62)(202, 121), 3.243(100)(121), 3.039(20)(213), 2.716(25)(220,015), and 1.9013(21)(323). The structure of bodieite contains Bi^(3+)O_3 and Te^(4+)O_3 pyramids that share O vertices forming an undulating sheet parallel to {001}. Interlayer SO_4 groups link the sheets via long Bi–O and Te–O bonds.