Abstract Lustrous needle shaped prismatic single crystals of the new compound Ca10V5.2Fe0.8O24 were obtained out of a sample with nominal composition Ca2Fe1.6V0.4O5 prepared at 1400 °C. The crystals are opaque and stable to humid air. Ca10V5.2Fe0.8O24 crystallizes with a new structure type, space group Pnma with a = 6.803(3), b = 16.015(8), c = 10.418(7)Å , Z = 2, R = 0.041. The crystal structure is characterized by two mononuclear tetrahedral species, MO4, which differ significantly from each other with respect to their M-O bond lengths. One with an average bond distance of 1.709(8)Å represents an orthovanadate ion. The other with a significantly larger value d(M-O) = 1.744(6) Å corresponds to a mixed occupation of its centre according to [V0.8Fe0.2O4]3.5−. In the crystal structure the complex anions are arranged in separate sheets parallel to the (010) plane. They are separated from each other by three crystallographically independent Ca2+ ions which are each coordinated by 7 oxygen atoms in distorted pentagonal bipyramidal and trigonal prismatic configurations, respectively.