Kuranakhite was firstly discovered in the oxidized zone of the Kuranakh gold mine, southern Russia, and since then there has
been no report on it. Kuranakhite in this paper was discovered in the Jialu gold mine, Luonan County, Shaanxi Province. The
mineral often occurs as irregular granular aggregates varying from 0. 05 to 0. 25 mm in size. The mineral is light brown to
brown in color, translucent, brown in steak, and vitreous in luster. Hv is 231 – 439kg/mm
2, H
M = 4∼5 and measured density is 6.72(2)g/cm
3. Its reflection color is bluishgray to light-blue and it shows middle anisotropism and weak bireflectance. Its polarization
color is blue to grayish-brown and there is no internal reflection. The index of refraction is:
N
a = 2.01,
N
β = 1. 98,
N
γ = 1. 96. The average composition is PbO 45. 40 wt %, MnO
2 16.41wt%, TeO
3 38.10wt%, totalling 99. 91wt%. The empirical formula is Pb
0.99Mn
0.92 Te
1.06O
6, which can be simplified as PbMnTeO
6. Principal lines in the X-ray power pattern [d(
I)(
hkl)] are:0.341 (100), (111); 0.2556(60), (130); 0.2043 (50), (041);0.1666 (20), (310); 0.1598(40), (241); and 0.1472(15), (330).
It was determined that kuranakhite is orthorhombic; its space group may be C;
a = 0.511(1) nm,
b = 0.891(2)nm,
c = 0.532(l)nm, a:b = 0.57, c:b = 0.60;
V = 0.242 (3) nm
3;
Z = 2, and calculated density = 6.66(1) g/ cm
3.
Key words kuranakhite - Jialu gold mine - Luonan County - Shaanxi Province
This project was financially supported by both the Armed Police Headquarters of Gold Exploration and the Science Foundation
of Shaanxi Provincial Educational Commission (No.HJ96-2-4;96JK-026).