Parageorgbokiite, β-Cu
5O
2(SeO
3)
2Cl
2, has been found at the second cinder cone of the Great Fissure Tolbachik Eruption, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Ralstonite,
tolbachite, melanothallite, chalcocyanite, euchlorine, Fe oxides, tenorite, native gold, sophiite, Na, Ca, and Mg sulfates,
cotunnite, and some copper oxoselenites are associated minerals. The estimated temperature of the mineral formation is 400–625°C.
The color is green, with a vitreous luster; the streak is light green. The mineral is brittle, with the Mohs hardness ranging
from 3 to 4. Cleavage is not observed. The calculated density is 4.70 g/cm
3. Parageorgbokiite is biaxial (+); α = 2.05(1), β = 2.05(1), and γ = 2.08(1); 2
V
(meas.) is ∼0
3, and 2
V
(calc.) = 0(5)°. The optical orientation is
X = a; other details remain unclear. The mineral is pleochroic, from grass green on
X and
Y to yellowish green on
Z. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of O + Cl = 10 is Cu
4.91Pb
0.02O
1.86(ScO
3)
2Cl
2.14. The simplified formula is Cu
5O
2(ScO
3)
2Cl
2. Parageorgbokiite pertains to a new structural type of inorganic compounds. Its name points out its dimorphism with georgbokiite,
which was named in honor of G.B. Bokii, the prominent Russian crystal chemist (1909–2000).
Original Russian Text © L.P. Vergasova, S.V. Krivovichev, S.K. Filatov, S.N. Britvin, P.C. Burns, V.V. Anan’ev, 2006, published
in Zapiski Rossiiskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva, 2006, No. 4, pp. 24–28.
Considered and recommended by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, Russian Mineralogical Society. Approved by
the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, International Mineralogical Association, February 2, 2005.