Hot off the press, well not quite, it is time to update your labels and collection databases, the mineral eztite has been redefined; actually to quite a different structure to the original determination.
Redefined by IMA in 2018 (proposal 18-A) the new formula is:
Pb2+2Fe3+3(Te4+ O3)3(SO4)O2Cl
Changing from:
Pb2Fe3+6(Te4+O3)3(Te6+O6)(OH)10·8H2O
We would suggest the Strunz classification of 4.JN.20 (Tellurite with additional anions, with H2O) is now defunct, to update to 4.JL.n (Tellurite with additional anions, without H2O) as the new Strunz group.
Etzite is a very rare mineral first published in 1980 and only known in two localities worldwide, the type locality Moctezuma Mine (Bambolla Mine), Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico and the reknowned US telluride locality at Bird Nest Drift, Otto Mountain, San Bernardino County, California, USA.
The somewhat difficult to pronounce name is from the word "eztli" in Nahua language meaning blood, alluding to the red colour of the mineral.
Citation
| Missen, O., Mills, S., Spratt, J., Welch, M., Birch, W., Rumsey, M., & Vylita, J. (2018). The crystal structure determination and redefinition of eztlite, Pb2 2Fe3 3(Te4 O3)3(SO4)O2Cl. Mineralogical Magazine, 1-27. doi:10.1180/mgm.2018.108 |
Eztlite - Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico
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