Belakovskiite is a very rare

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

mineral with the formula Na₇(UO₂)(SO₄)₄(SO₃OH)(H₂O)₃.Kampf, A.R., Plášil, J., Kasatkin, A.V., and Marty, J., 2014. Belakovskiite, Na₇(UO₂)(SO₄)₄(SO₃OH)(H₂O)₃, a new uranyl sulfate mineral from the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA. Mineralogical Magazine 78(3), 639-649 It is interesting in being a natural

uranyl The uranyl ion with the chemical formula has a linear structure with short U–O bonds, indicative of the presence of multiple bonds between uranium and oxygen, with uranium in the oxidation state +6. Four or more ligands may be bound to the u ...

salt with hydrosulfate anion, a feature shared with meisserite. Other chemically related minerals include

fermiite Fermiite is a rare uranium mineral with the formula Na4(UO2)(SO4)3·3H2O.Kampf, A.R., Plášil, J., Kasatkin, A.V., Marty, J., and Čejka, J., 2015. Fermiite, Na4(UO2)(SO4)3·3H2O and oppenheimerite, Na2(UO2)(SO4)2·3H2O, two new uranyl sulfate mi ...

oppenheimerite Oppenheimerite is a very rare uranium mineral with the formula Na2(UO2)(SO4)2•3H2O. Chemically related minerals include fermiite, natrozippeite, plášilite, belakovskiite and meisserite. Most of these uranyl sulfate minerals were originally ...

, natrozippeite and

plášilite Plášilite is a very rare uranium mineral with the formula Na2(UO2)(SO4)2•3H2O. Chemically related minerals include natrozippeite, belakovskiite, meisserite, fermiite and oppenheimerite. Most of these uranyl sulfate minerals were originally fou ...

. Most of these uranyl

sulfate minerals The sulfate minerals are a class of minerals that include the sulfate ion () within their structure. The sulfate minerals occur commonly in primary evaporite depositional environments, as gangue minerals in hydrothermal veins and as secondary ...

was originally found in the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, US. The mineral is named after Russian mineralogist Dmitry Ilych Belakovskiy.

Association

Belakovskiite is associated with other sulfate minerals: meisserite,

blödite Blödite or bloedite is a hydrated sodium magnesium sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Mg(SO4)2·4H2O. The mineral is clear to yellow in color often darkened by inclusions and forms monoclinic crystals. Blödite was first described in 1821 for ...

, ferrinatrite,

kröhnkite Kröhnkite ( Na2Cu(SO4)2•2H2O ) is a rare copper sulfate mineral named after B. Kröhnke who first researched it. Kröhnkite may be replaced by Saranchinaite, the anhydrous form of the mineral, if heated to temperatures above 200 °C (392&n ...

, and metavoltine. This association is found as efflorescences on a sandstone associated with uranium mineralization.

Crystal structure

The framework of belakovskiite crystal structure is a hexavalent cluster with composition (UO₂)(SO₄)₄(H₂O). Such clusters are connected via Na-O and hydrogen bonds.

References

Uranium(VI) minerals Sulfate minerals Sodium minerals Triclinic minerals Minerals in space group 2 {{sulfate-mineral-stub