Mitrofanovite, Pt3Te4, a new mineral from the East Chuarvy deposit, Fedorovo–Pana intrusion, Kola Peninsula, Russia

Abstract

AbstractMitrofanovite, Pt3Te4, is a new telluride discovered in low-sulfide disseminated ore in the East Chuarvy deposit, Fedorovo–Pana intrusion, Kola Peninsula, Russia. It forms anhedral grains (up to ~20 μm × 50 μm) commonly in intergrowths with moncheite in aggregates with lukkulaisvaaraite, kotulskite, vysotskite, braggite, keithconnite, rustenburgite and Pt–Fe alloys hosted by a chalcopyrite–pentlandite–pyrrhotite matrix. Associated silicates are: orthopyroxene, augite, olivine, amphiboles and plagioclase. Mitrofanovite is brittle; it has a metallic lustre and a grey streak. Mitrofanovite has a good cleavage, along {001}. In plane-polarised light, mitrofanovite is bright white with medium to strong bireflectance, slight pleochroism, and strong anisotropy on non-basal sections with greyish brown rotation tints; it exhibits no internal reflections. Reflectance values for the synthetic analogue of mitrofanovite in air (Ro,Re’in %) are: 58.4, 54.6 at 470 nm; 62.7, 58.0 at 546 nm; 63.4, 59.1 at 589 nm; and 63.6, 59.5 at 650 nm. Fifteen electron-microprobe analyses of mitrofanovite gave an average composition: Pt 52.08, Pd 0.19, Te 47.08 and Bi 0.91, total 100.27 wt.%, corresponding to the formula (Pt2.91Pd0.02)Σ2.93(Te4.02Bi0.05)Σ4.07based on 7 atoms; the average of eleven analyses on synthetic analogue is: Pt 52.57 and Te 47.45, total 100.02 wt.%, corresponding to Pt2.94Te4.06. The density, calculated on the basis of the formula, is 11.18 g/cm3. The mineral is trigonal, space groupR$\overline 3 $m, witha= 3.9874(1),c= 35.361(1) Å,V= 486.91(2) Å3andZ= 3. The crystal structure was solved and refined from the powder X-ray-diffraction data of synthetic Pt3Te4. Mitrofanovite is structurally and chemically related to moncheite (PtTe2). The strongest lines in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern of synthetic mitrofanovite [din Å (I) (hkl)] are: 11.790(23)(003), 5.891(100)(006), 2.851(26)(107), 2.137(16)(1013), 2.039(18)(0114), 1.574(24)(0120), 1.3098(21)(0027). The structural identity of natural mitrofanovite with synthetic Pt3Te4was confirmed by electron backscatter diffraction measurements on the natural sample. The mineral name is chosen to honour Felix P. Mitrofanov, a Russian geologist who was among the first to discover platinum-group element mineralisation in the Fedorova–Pana complex.