Attikaite, a new mineral species, has been found together with arsenocrandalite, arsenogoyazite, conichalcite, olivenite,
philipsbornite, azurite, malachite, carminite, beudantite, goethite, quartz, and allophane at the Christina Mine No. 132,
Kamareza, Lavrion District, Attiki Prefecture (Attika), Greece. The mineral is named after the type locality. It forms spheroidal
segregations (up to 0.3 mm in diameter) consisting of thin flexible crystals up to 3 × 20 × 80 μm in size. Its color is light
blue to greenish blue, with a pale blue streak. The Mohs’ hardness is 2 to 2.5. The cleavage is eminent mica-like parallel
to {001}. The density is 3.2(2) g/cm
3 (measured in heavy liquids) and 3.356 g/cm
3 (calculated). The wave numbers of the absorption bands in the infrared spectrum of attikaite are (cm
−1;
sh is shoulder;
w is a weak band): 3525
sh, 3425, 3180, 1642, 1120
w, 1070
w, 1035
w, 900
sh, 874, 833, 820, 690
w, 645
w, 600
sh, 555, 486, 458, and 397. Attikaite is optically biaxial, negative, α = 1.642(2), β = γ = 1.644(2) (
X = c) 2
V
means = 10(8)°, and 2
V
calc = 0°. The new mineral is microscopically colorless and nonpleochroic. The chemical composition (electron microprobe, average
over 4 point analyses, wt %) is: 0.17 MgO, 17.48 CaO, 0.12 FeO, 16.28 CuO, 10.61 Al
2O
3, 0.89 P
2O
5, 45.45 As
2O
5, 1.39 SO
3, and H
2O (by difference) 7.61, where the total is 100.00. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of (O,OH,H
2O)
22 is: Ca
2.94Cu
1.93
2+
Al
1.97Mg
0.04Fe
0.02
2+
[(As
3.74S
0.16P
0.12)
Σ4.02O
16.08](OH)
3.87 · 2.05H
2 O. The simplified formula is Ca
3Cu
2Al
2(AsO
4)
4(OH)
4 · 2H
2O. Attikaite is orthorhombic, space group
Pban, Pbam or
Pba2; the unit-cell dimensions are
a = 10.01(1),
b = 8.199(5),
c = 22.78(1) Å,
V = 1870(3) Å
3, and
Z = 4. In the result of the ignition of attikaite for 30 to 35 min at 128–140°, the H
2O bands in the IR spectrum disappear, while the OH-group band is not modified; the weight loss is 4.3%, which approximately
corresponds to two H
2O molecules per formula; and parameter
c decreases from 22.78 to 18.77 Å. The strongest reflections in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern [
d, Å (
I, %)((
hkl)] are: 22.8(100)(001), 11.36(60)(002), 5.01(90)(200), 3.38(5)(123, 205), 2.780(70)(026), 2.682(30)(126), 2.503(50)(400),
2.292(20)(404). The type material of attikaite is deposited in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Moscow. The registration number is 3435/1.
A new mineral attikaite and its name were accepted by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, Russian Mineralogical
Society, March 30, 2006. Approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, International Mineralogical Association,
July 1, 2006. IMA no 2006-017.
Original Russian Text © N.V. Chukanov, I.V. Pekov, A.E. Zadov, 2007, published in Zapitski Rossiiskogo Mineralogicheskogo
Obshchestva, 2007, Pt CXXXVI, No. 2, pp. 17–24.