Analysis of a sample from the Moschellandsberg mainly consisting of malachite, calomel and minor eglestonite provided the evidence of a new mercury arsenate from this locality: Chursinite.
Previous SEM-EDS analysis revealed only the elements Hg, As, O and no Cl. Due to the small amount of material powder x-ray diffraction was not suitable. The sample was then analysed by means of Raman spectroscopy. Using a 785nm laser at 1% power, EMCCD with increased gain, and 20 acquisitions with each 20s resulted in reasonable data. Either the mineral is a very weak scatterer or the crystallinity is not ideal.
The reference Infrared and Raman Spectra of (Hg2)3(AsO4)2 and Hg3(AsO4)2 in JOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY J. Raman Spectrosc. 30, 1049–1051 (1999) allowed to identify it as chursinite. Strongest observed Raman intensity in the low wavenumber regime for Hg-Hg and around 800cm^-1 for the AsO4^2- group coincide well with the data for synthetic reference. Some weak peaks could not be resolved due to the reasons stated above.
The mineral is named after beautiful Russian theatre and film actress Lyudmila Alekseevna Chursina. Follow the link below to see her at a young grown age. https://www.mindat.org/photo-361906.html
