Tarapacaite
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Tarapacáite is the mineral form of
potassium chromate Potassium chromate is the inorganic compound with the formula K2 CrO4. This yellow solid is the potassium salt of the chromate anion. It is a common laboratory chemical, whereas sodium chromate is important industrially. Structure Two crysta ...
with the
chemical formula In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbol ...
K2 Cr O4. It forms bright yellow crystals and was discovered in 1878. It is named for the former Tarapacá Province, Peru; nowadays belonging to Chile. The boundaries between Peru, Bolivia and Chile were vague in the
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...
before the
War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
(1879–1883). Its type locality is Oficina Maria Elena, Maria Elena, Tocopilla Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile. It is unlikely to occur anywhere except in highly arid conditions as it is easily soluble in water.Handbook of Mineralogy (HOM - MSA) - Tarapacaite
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References

Potassium minerals Chromate minerals Orthorhombic minerals Minerals in space group 62 {{oxide-mineral-stub