Abellaite is a hydrous
carbonate mineral
Carbonate minerals are those minerals containing the carbonate ion, .
Carbonate divisions Anhydrous carbonates
*Calcite group: trigonal
**Calcite CaCO3
**Gaspéite (Ni,Mg,Fe2+)CO3
**Magnesite MgCO3
**Otavite CdCO3
**Rhodochrosite MnCO3
**Sider ...
discovered in the abandoned Eureka uranium mine in the village of
La Torre de Capdella (
Lleida province
The Province of Lleida (; ; ) is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. It lies in northeastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia, and is bordered by the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Zarag ...
),
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, Spain. The ideal chemical formula of abellaite is NaPb
2(CO
3)
2(OH). It is named in honor of
Joan Abella i Creus, a Catalan gemmologist who has long studied minerals from the Eureka mine and first found abellaite in the mine. A team composed, among others, by Jordi Ibáñez-Insa from the
Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (CSIC) and by Joan Viñals and Xavier Llovet from the
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
, identified and characterized the mineral’s structure and chemical composition.
Abellaite crystals are colorless to white, with a glassy or pearly appearance, and are easily crumbled. The mineral has a known synthetic analogue and is chemically similar to sanrománite.
Robert Hazen
Robert Miller Hazen (born November 1, 1948) is an American mineralogist and astrobiologist. He is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George ...
et al. predicted its existence in 2015.
Localities
Catalonia, Spain
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mou ...
: Eureka mine, Castell-estaó, La Torre de Cabdella, La Vall Fosca, El Pallars Jussà, Lleida, Catalonia
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
: Yubileinaya pegmatite, Karnasurt Mt, Lovozero Massif, Murmanskaya Oblast', Northern Region
References
External links
*
Carbonate minerals
Trigonal minerals
Minerals in space group 159
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