Szklaryite

Szklaryite is an extremely rare mineral with the formula []Al₆BAs₃³⁺O₁₅.^[2] It is essentially vacant ("[]"), arsenic-dominant member of dumortierite supergroup, giving a name of szklaryite group. It is one of three quite recently found minerals of this group, the other two being nioboholtite and titanoholtite, all coming from the Szklary village near Ząbkowice Śląskie in Poland.^[3] They occur in a unique pegmatite of probable anatectic origin.^[4]

Szklaryite
General
Category	Arsenate
Formula (repeating unit)	[]Al6BAs33+O15
IMA symbol	Sky[1]
Crystal system	Orthorhombic
Crystal class	Dipyramidal (mmm) H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
Space group	Pbcm
Unit cell	a = 47.00 Å, b = 11.83 Å c = 20.24 Å (approximated)
Identification
Crystal habit	tiny patch
References	[2][3]

Occurrence and association

Szklaryite was detected as a tiny patch ca. 2 μm in size, in arsenic- and antimony-bearing dumortierite. Such a small size precluded determination of many of its properties. Szklaryite is associated with a wide variety of minerals including: nioboholtite, titanoholtite, fersmite, holtite, alluaudite, native antimony, manganese-bearing minerals of the apatite group (F-, OH- and Cl-rich apatite), native arsenic, beusite, native bismuth, cheralite, chrysoberyl, columbite-(Fe), columbite-(Mn), ernienickelite, native gold, gorceixite, hollandite, microcline, mitridatite, monazite-(Ce), muscovite, natrophilite, nontronite, various representatives of the betafite, microlite and pyrochlore groups; paradocrasite, phosphohedyphane, plumbogummite, pollucite, purpurite, quartz, ranciéite, romanèchite, saponite, spessartine, stibarsen, stibiocolumbite, stibiotantalite, tantalite-(Mn), thorutite, uraninite, xenotime-(Y), and zircon.^[2]

Notes on chemistry

An important admixture in szklaryite is antimony, while titanium, iron, and aluminium occur in trace amounts.^[2]

References

1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
2. Pieczka, A.; Evans, R. J.; Grew, E. S.; Groat, L. A.; Ma, C.; Rossman, G. R. (2013). "The dumortierite supergroup. II. Three new minerals from the Szklary pegmatite, SW Poland: Nioboholtite, (Nb_0.6〈_0.4)Al₆BSi₃O₁₈, titanoholtite, (Ti_0.75〈_0.25)Al₆BSi₃O₁₈, and szklaryite, 〈Al₆BAs³⁺₃O₁₅" (PDF). Mineralogical Magazine. 77 (6): 2841. Bibcode:2013MinM...77.2841P. doi:10.1180/minmag.2013.077.6.10. S2CID 51740732.
3. "Szklaryite: Szklaryite mineral information and data". Mindat.org. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
4. Pieczka, A., 2000. A rare mineral-bearing pegmatite from the Szklary serpentinite massif, the Fore-Sudetic Block, SW Poland. Geologia Sudetica 33, 23-31