Abstract
Prachařite, ideally CaSb5+2(As3+2O5)2O2·10H2O, is a new mineral found in underground workings of the Plaka Mine No. 80, Plaka, Lavrion Mining District, Attica, Greece. It occurs as colourless to white, thin tabular hexagonal, in general sharp crystals up to 2.5 mm in diameter, and is associated with pharmacolite, sulphur and very rare smamite {Ca2Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]·6H2O} on a matrix composed of sphalerite, galena and carbonate gangue. Prachařite is translucent to transparent, with a glassy lustre, white streak, a good cleavage parallel to {0001} and a distinct cleavage parallel to {10\(\overline{1 }\)0}. It is non-luminescent, brittle, and has an uneven fracture, a Mohs hardness of 2–2.5 and X-ray density Dx = 2.848 g/cm3, Dcalc. = 2.836–2.853 g/cm3 (for two measured compositions). Optically, it is uniaxial negative, with ω = 1.619(1) and ε = 1.553(1). Prachařite is trigonal, space group P\(\overline{3 }\)c1 (no. 165), with a = 13.951(2), c = 19.899(2) Å, V = 3354.1(10) Å3 and Z = 6. Strongest lines in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [d in Å (I) hkl]: 9.894 (100) 002; 6.045 (8) 200; 5.156 (10) 202; 4.946 (11) 004; 3.297 (19) 311, 006, 222; 2.988 (22) 400, 313, 116. Two sets of independent electron probe micro-analyses yielded (wt%): CaO 6.28/7.12, MgO 0.09/-, Zn -/0.01, Sb2O5 39.22/40.19, As2O3 47.59/47.39, SO3 -/0.02, H2O 21.65/22.04 (calculated on the basis of ideal composition derived from crystal-structure determination), total 114.83/116.77; the total is reproducibly high due to a loss of a third of all water molecules under the electron beam. The empirical formulae, based on O = 22 atoms per formula unit, for the two datasets are very similar, (Ca0.93Mg0.02)Σ0.95Sb2.02(AsO3)4.00·10H2O and Ca1.04Sb2.03(AsO3)3.92·10H2O. The ideal formula is CaSb5+2(As3+2O5)2O2·10H2O, determined with the help of a crystal-structure determination based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction datasets collected at room temperature (R1 = 2.3%). The atomic arrangement of prachařite is unusual; it is based on two different layers containing a six-membered ring of corner-sharing SbO6 octahedra, an eight-coordinated Ca1 atom in the centre of the ring, two non-equivalent AsO3 groups corner-linked to form a (As2O5)4− diarsenite group, and, on interlayer sites, a seven-coordination Ca2 atom and three water molecules (all only weakly hydrogen-bonded), one of which is only partially occupied (split position). The mineral is named in honour of Dr Ivan Prachař, a long-term researcher of the mineralogy and underground workings of Lavrion.
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Introduction
During some of the authors’ (UK, BR, KHF) ongoing studies of the mineralogy and mines of the famous Lavrion mining district in Greece (Bonsall et al. 2011; Scheffer et al. 2019 and references therein), we encountered, in 2016, a colourless to white supergene mineral on weathered lead–zinc ore, whose thin tabular, six-sided crystal morphology did not remind us of any known species. In fact, a full characterisation of the mineral, including a determination of its crystal structure, showed that it is a new, unusual hydrated oxysalt species containing Ca, Sb(V) and As(III). The mineral and its name were subsequently approved by the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (IMA 2018-081).
The mineral is named after Dr Ivan Prachař (b. 1957) of Prague, Czech Republic. Dr Prachař has, in close collaboration with one of the authors (KHF), studied the mineralogy of the numerous Lavrion mines for more than 20 years and helped to carefully survey and document all the underground workings (ancient to modern). Several discoveries of rare and unusual minerals in Lavrion are due to his work. The name is pronounced pra-har̝̊-ait.
The present contribution provides a full characterisation of prachařite and a comparison with related species. Cotype material is deposited in the Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria (one cotype specimen and the crystal used for the crystal-structure solution; catalogue no. NHMW-MIN-O357), in the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic (one cotype specimen, catalogue no. P1P 15/2018), and in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, USA (one cotype specimen, catalogue no. 67242).
Occurrence and paragenesis
Prachařite was found in September 2016 in underground workings of the Plaka Mine No. 80, Plaka, Lavrion Mining District, Lavreotiki, Attica, Greece. The Plaka Mine No. 80 is located in the northern part of the famous Lavrion mining district (Leleu 1966, 1969; Skarpelis 2007; Voudouris et al. 2008; Skarpelis and Argyraki 2009; Bonsall et al. 2011; Scheffer et al. 2019). This mine is known for late-stage hydrothermal As-Sb-Pb–Zn(-Ag) ore veins with assemblages of primary silver minerals and a large variety of supergene phases, mainly arsenates (Wendel and Markl 1996; Rieck and Rieck 1999; Rieck et al. 2018, 2020, 2022; Frenzel et al. 2022). About 133 mineral species are currently (May 2023) known from the mine.
On the collected material, prachařite is accompanied by pharmacolite, a few tiny sulphur crystals and very rare smamite {Ca2Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]·6H2O} (the latter only as a unique crystal, adjacent to a prachařite crystal, on a single, very small specimen; Rieck et al. 2022). These supergene phases crystallised on an ore matrix composed of dark brownish sphalerite, galena and carbonate gangue (dolomite and calcite). The vein-type primary ore mineralisation at this locality is composed of sphalerite, galena, pyrite, arsenic, stibarsen, stibnite and other phases. Typical secondary minerals include pharmacolite, picropharmacolite (very common), various Ca arsenates [including the unnamed phase Ca5(AsO4)2(HAsO4)2·5H2O, Kolitsch et al. 2014], antimony oxides, sulphur and others.
Morphological, physical and optical properties
Prachařite forms colourless to white, thin tabular hexagonal, in general sharp crystals up to 2.5 mm in diameter, but mostly 1–1.5 mm (Figs. 1 and 2). Parts of the crystals may appear somewhat crumbly, with recognisable cleavage cracks. The colourless platelets may show a frosted tabular face and a very thin white opaque rim. Prachařite is translucent to transparent, with a glassy lustre, white streak, a good cleavage parallel to {0001} and a distinct cleavage parallel to {10\(\overline{1 }\)0}. It is non-luminescent, brittle, and has an uneven fracture and a Mohs hardness of 2–2.5. Optically, it is uniaxial negative, with ω = 1.619(1) and ε = 1.553(1) (determined in white light) and nonpleochroic. Mass density was not measured directly; the X-ray density Dx is 2.848 g/cm3 (based on single-crystal data measured in Vienna—see below). For the ideal composition and the Vienna single-crystal data Dcalc. = 2.838 g/cm3; for the measured compositions (see following section), Dcalc. = 2.836–2.853 g/cm3.
Chemical composition
Chemical analyses of prachařite were carried out with two electron probe micro-analysers, with very similar results for the standard polished mounts. The cotype material in Prague was quantitatively analysed with a Cameca SX 100 instrument (wavelength-dispersive mode, 15 kV, 4 nA, 10 μm defocussed beam diameter). Contents of Al, Bi, Cl, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Si, V and Zn were all below detection limits. The following X-ray lines and reference materials were used: (i) Kα lines: Ca (wollastonite), Mg (synthetic Mg2SiO4), Lα line: As (lammerite); (ii) Lβ line: Sb (synthetic Sb). Counting times were 20 s on peak and 10 s on each background position. The raw intensities were converted to the concentrations automatically using the PAP (Pouchou and Pichoir 1985) matrix-correction software. The H2O content could not be determined directly, because of the very meagre amount of pure material. The H2O content was therefore calculated on the basis of 10 H2O per formula unit (pfu) from the crystal-structure analysis. Results are given in Table 1. The high analytical totals after the addition of the calculated H2O content (114.83) are caused by partial dehydration of the sample (about half of the total water content) under the vacuum conditions of the instrument chamber and due to visible beam damage; dehydration is reflected by abundant dehydration fractures in the crystal grains. We also tried to vary measurement conditions, using a beam current of up to 1 nA and a beam diameter of 20 μm, however, with the same results. Finally, we note that the observation of variable transparency of the crystals may indicate possible prior partial dehydration of those crystals that are translucent or not transparent. The material in Vienna was quantitatively analysed with a JEOL “Hyperprobe” JXA 8530F field-emission gun electron probe micro-analyser (EPMA), employing JEOL and “Probe for EPMA” (Probe Software, Inc.) analysis software (wavelength-dispersive mode, 10 kV, 20 nA, 20 μm defocussed beam diameter, counting time 10 s on peak and 5 s on background positions). The following natural reference materials and X-ray lines were used: wollastonite (CaKα), kermesite (SbLα, SKα), scorodite (AsLα) and synthetic ZnO (ZnLα). If the analytical data were processed assuming an ideal formula, totals of ca. 114–117% were obtained, and the Ca, Sb and As values were all too high (especially As). If a loss of a third of all water molecules (i.e. only the hydrogen-bonded ones, see below) is assumed (“unprocessed” sum is 88%), then the total would be 101% and the Ca:Sb:As-ratio would be nearly perfect.
The calculated empirical formulae, based on O = 22 atoms per formula unit (apfu), are very similar for the two datasets: (Ca0.93Mg0.02)Σ0.95Sb2.02(AsO3)4.00·10H2O (Prague material) and Ca1.04Sb2.03(AsO3)3.92·10H2O (Vienna material). The ideal formula is CaSb5+2(As3+O3)4·10H2O, which we reformulated as CaSb5+2O2(As3+2O5)2·10H2O to emphasise the presence of As2O5 dimers in the crystal structure (see below). The ideal formula requires CaO 5.87, Sb2O5 33.86, As2O3 41.41, H2O 18.86, total 100.00 wt%.
The calculated Gladstone-Dale compatibility index (1-KP/KC; Mandarino 1981, 2007) is 0.065 (fair) using the empirical formula and single-crystal data from Vienna, and 0.071 (fair) using the empirical formula and single-crystal data from Prague. It is 0.067 using the ideal formula and the single-crystal data from Vienna. The following observation might explain the “fair” category: Prachařite contains corner-shared SbO6 octahedra; Shannon and Fischer (2016) noticed that corner-shared octahedral network and chain structures such as perovskites, tungsten bronzes and titanite-related structures showed systematic deviations between observed and calculated polarisabilities (polarisability analysis is a more reliable measure of the compatibility of a mineral’s refractive index, composition and crystal structure) and thus were excluded from their regression analysis.
X-ray crystallography
X-ray powder diffraction
Powder diffraction data were obtained using two different methods. The first data were measured in Los Angeles using a Rigaku R-Axis Rapid II curved imaging plate microdiffractometer with monochromatised MoKα radiation. A Gandolfi-like motion on the φ and ω axes was used to randomise the sample. Observed d values and intensities were derived by profile fitting using JADE 2010 software (Materials Data, Inc.). Data (in Å for MoKα) are given in Table 2 (“data 2”). Unit-cell parameters refined from the powder data using JADE 2010 with whole pattern fitting are: a = 13.952(6), c = 19.918(10) Å, V = 3358(3) Å3.
The second data, also given in Table 2 (“data 1”), were measured using a Bruker D8 Advance powder diffractometer equipped with solid-state LynxEye detector and secondary monochromator producing CuKα radiation housed at the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic. The instrument was operated at 40 kV and 40 mA. In order to minimise the background, the powder sample was placed on the surface of a flat silicon wafer in ethanol suspension. The powder pattern was collected in the Bragg–Brentano geometry in the range 3–70° 2θ, with a step size of 0.01° and a counting time of 30 s per step (the total duration of the experiment was about three days). The positions and intensities of the diffraction maxima were determined and refined using the Pearson VII profile-shape function of the ZDS program package (Ondruš 1993) and the following unit-cell parameters were refined by the least-squares program of Burnham (1962): a = 13.9541(5), c = 19.795(1) Å, V = 3338.0(3) Å3.
Single-crystal X-ray diffraction
An Ewald sphere of intensity data from a fragment of a well-developed transparent prachařite crystal was collected in Vienna with a Nonius KappaCCD four-circle single-crystal diffractometer (see Table 3 for details on data collection and refinement). The crystal structure was solved and refined in space group P\(\overline{3 }\)c1 (no. 165) using SHELX-97 (Sheldrick 2008) to R1 = 2.3% and wR2all = 5.8%.
An additional intensity dataset was collected in Prague using a Rigaku SuperNova single-crystal diffractometer (microfocus X-ray tube, MoKa X-radiation, Atlas S2 charge-coupled device detector, 293 K, 2θmax = 59.08°, completeness 0.98, Rint = 5.1%). The model obtained is basically identical to the originally obtained model (albeit with standard uncertainties higher by a factor of about 1.5 to 2) and will not be discussed here except in case of notable differences. The unit-cell parameters, a = 13.9545(4) Å, c = 19.7896(5) Å, V = 3337.33(16) Å3, are similar except for a slightly decreased length of the c axis (a smaller c-axis length is also seen in the powder diffraction data of the corresponding material). This is tentatively attributed to variable water contents (see discussion below).
Table 4 gives final atomic coordinates and displacement parameters for prachařite, while Table 5 provides selected bond lengths and angles, including calculated bond-valence sums. A CIF-file is available in the Supplement. The asymmetric unit contains two Ca, one Sb, two As, 13 O and 14 H sites, nine of which could be located and refined with the following restraints: O–H = 0.90(2) Å; H…H = 1.50(5) Å. Seven of the 13 O sites represent water molecules. One water molecule site (Ow13), located in an interlayer space, is a partially occupied split-site (occupancy ~ 0.40); the refined formula is CaSb5+2(As3+O3)4· ~ 10.1H2O. The aforementioned second dataset gave a slightly decreased Ow13 occupancy, ~ 0.25, which might explain the equally slightly decreased length of the c axis of the fragment used for that dataset.
Prachařite has a layered structure based on two different layers (Figs. 3, 4 and 5). The first one comprises a six-membered ring of corner-sharing SbO6 octahedra (< Sb–O > = 1.970 Å, Table 5). The eight-coordinated Ca1 atom occupies the centre of the ring (< Ca1–O > = 2.474 Å). The Ca1O8 polyhedron is a hexagonal dipyramid that shares each of its horizontal edges with one of the six symmetrically equivalent SbO6 octahedra. Thus, six ligands are O atoms (O6) and two are water molecules (Ow7). Attached to the SbO6 octahedra by vertices are AsO3 groups (< As1–O > = 1.779 Å, < As2–O > = 1.781 Å). The (As1O3)3− and (As2O3)3− groups are corner-linked to form a (As2O5)4− diarsenite group in an eclipsed configuration; thus, the structural formula was formulated as CaSb5+2O2(As3+2O5)2·10H2O. The heteropolyhedral Ca-Sb-As-O-cluster represents the fundamental building unit of prachařite (Figs. 3 and 4).
The second Ca atom, Ca2, is located between two heteropolyhedral Ca1-Sb-As-O layers (Fig. 5). The Ca2 atom shows seven-fold coordination (< Ca2–O > = 2.405 Å); all ligands are water molecules (Ow10 × 3, Ow9 × 3 and Ow8). Also in the interlayer are located two fully occupied, only hydrogen-bonded water molecules, represented by Ow11 and Ow12, and the already mentioned partially occupied water molecule, Ow13 (Figs. 4 and 5). The latter is close to a symmetrically equivalent position [Ow13…Ow13’ = 1.08(2) Å] and shows an increased Uiso value (~ 0.13 Å2). Hydrogen bonds are more or less weak, with donor…acceptor distances ranging between 2.74 and 3.22 Å (Table 5). The bond-valence sums, calculated using the recently improved parameters of Gagné and Hawthorne (2015), are in very good agreement with the ideal valencies (Table 5).
Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectra (a representative one is shown in Fig. 6) were collected on a crystal lying on its (0001) face in the range 4500–10 cm–1 using a DXR dispersive Raman Spectrometer (Thermo Scientific) attached to an Olympus microscope. The Raman signal was excited by the green emission (532 nm) of a diode-pumped solid-state laser and analysed by a charge-coupled device detector. The experimental parameters were: 50 × objective (numerical aperture 0.50), 10 s exposure time, 100 exposures and 1 mW laser power. With a 400 lines/mm diffraction grating in the optical pathway, the spectral resolution was in the range 4.4–9.7 cm–1. The spectra were repeatedly acquired from different crystals in order to obtain a representative spectrum with the best signal-to-noise ratio. A possible thermal damage of the measured spots was excluded by visual inspection of each spot after the measurement, by observation of possible decay of spectral features at the start of excitation and checking for thermal downshift of Raman lines. The instrument was set up by a software-controlled calibration procedure using multiple neon emission lines (wavelength calibration), multiple polystyrene Raman bands (laser wavelength calibration) and standardised white-light sources (intensity calibration). Spectral manipulations were performed using the Omnic 9 software (Thermo Scientific). The lateral resolution was ~ 0.7 μm in confocal mode.
The main bands observed are (in cm–1, strong bands underlined): 3620, 3470, 3383, 3288, 1655, 851, 840, 830, 792, 541, 458, 358, 297, 273, 253, 233, 185, 129, 116, 63 and 24. The dominant bands in the 600–200 cm–1 region can be assigned to δ As–O–As and AsO2 vibrations of the (As2O5)4− diarsenite group (see above description of crystal structure). Weaker bands in the range 900–750 cm–1 may be related to stretching (symmetric and antisymmetric) vibrations of As–O bonds, as well as to Sb–O vibrations of the SbO6 octahedron (Vandenborre et al. 1980; Baran and Botto 1981; Devi and Vidyasagar 1998; Castro et al. 2009; Bahfenne and Frost 2010; Glamazda et al. 2017). The bands in the 200–10 cm–1 region are caused by lattice modes. The presence of water is documented by a broad OH-stretching band running from 3800 to 3100 cm–1 with recognisable components at 3620, 3470, 3383 and 3288 cm–1; at least four distinct components in this area indicate several structurally non-equivalent water molecules, in agreement with the crystal-structure determination. Following the correlation curve of Libowitzky (1999), the band component at 3288 cm–1 probably corresponds to the hydrogen bond Ow7–H71···Ow13 [2.741(11) Å] (Table 5), while the 3470 and 3383 cm–1 components would correspond to at least five different H bonds with O···O distances between 2.80 and 2.89 Å. The band component at 3620 cm–1 is probably related to the very weak hydrogen bond Ow11–H111···O5. A weak band at 1655 cm–1 is assigned to the ν2 (δ) bending vibrations of water molecules.
Discussion
Relation to other mineral species
No close relationship with other minerals is apparent. Specifically, there is neither a known mineral species nor a known synthetic compound that both contains Sb5+ and As3+. Interestingly, whitecapsite, H16Fe52+Fe143+Sb63+(AsO4)18O16·120H2O (Pekov et al. 2014) contains both Sb3+ and As5+; its structure is based on a complex heteropolyhedral [(□,Fe2+)6Fe3+7Sb3O8(AsO4)9(H2O)30] (□ = vacancy) cluster. Smamite, triclinic Ca2Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]·6H2O (Plášil et al. 2020), also contains both Sb3+ and As5+. Its atomic arrangement is based upon {Ca2(H2O)6Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]} infinite chains consisting of edge-sharing dimers of Ca(H2O)3O2(OH)2 polyhedra which share edges with Sb(OH)4O2 octahedra. A recently described mineral containing both Sb3+ and As3+ is lepageite, Mn2+3(Fe3+7Fe2+4)O3[Sb3+5As3+8O34] (Pieczka et al. 2019), which was found in the Szklary pegmatite (Lower Silesia, Poland). Seven other minerals are presently known to contain diarsenite groups (listed in chronological order of published crystal-structure determination): paulmooreite, Pb2As2O5; gebhardite, Pb8(As2O5)2OCl6; fetiasite, (Fe3+,Fe2+,Ti)3(As2O5)O2; vajdakite, [(Mo6+O2)2(H2O)2As3+2O5]·3H2O; schneiderhöhnite, Fe2+Fe3+3As3+5O13; karibibite, Fe3+3(As3+O2)4(As3+2O5)(OH); and bianchiniite, Ba2(TiV)(As2O5)2OF. Among these, vajdakite is the only other hydrated phase.
We are not aware of the presence of any other isolated SbO6-based Sb6O30 rings in either minerals or synthetic compounds. Although rings of edge-sharing SbO6 octahedra exist in rosiaite, PbSb2O6 (Basso et al. 1996), and isotypic compounds, they share edges with neighbouring rings to form an interrupted gibbsite-like layer.
Stability and occurrence
Prachařite has formed by weathering of a hydrothermal As-Sb-Pb–Zn(-Ag) ore vein in an estimated temperature range of 10–18 °C (based on long-term observations of the underground microclimate during different seasons) and under slightly acidic and slightly oxidising conditions. The Eh (redox potential) range must be fairly narrow since Sb5+ and As3+ must be simultaneously (meta-?)stable. Although thermodynamically, a mineral containing both Sb5+ and As3+ should not be stable, in reality, this is considered very possible because the stability boundaries Sb3+/Sb5+ and As3+/As5+ are very close and other arsenite minerals exist that should not be thermodynamically stable, e.g. tooeleite, Fe3+6(As3+O3)4(SO4)(OH)4·4H2O (Juraj Majzlan, pers. comm. to U.K.). Furthermore, it was reported that in a relatively reducing sediment impacted by As- and Sb-rich mining waste, most of the As is reduced to As3+, while Sb5+ bound to the oxygen phase persists and represents 58% of the total Sb (Fawcett and Jamieson 2011). Other researchers made similar observations (Mitsunobu et al. 2006; Ritchie et al. 2013; Fawcett et al. 2015). Conditions that would favour the crystallisation of prachařite are assumed to occur also in geologically similar deposits such as the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines ore district, Haut-Rhin department, France (von Eller and Weil 1966; Fluck 1968), which is, as mentioned above, the type locality of the chemically similar mineral smamite, Ca2Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]·6H2O, the latter also occuring on one of the studied prachařite specimens.
References
Bahfenne S, Frost R (2010) A review of the vibrational spectroscopic studies of arsenite, antimonite, and antimonate minerals. Appl Spectrosc Rev 45:101–129
Baran EJ, Botto IL (1981) Vibrational spectra of NaSbO3. An Asoc Quim Argent 69:283–291 (in Spanish)
Basso R, Lucchetti G, Zefiro L, Palenzona A (1996) Rosiaite, PbSb2O6, a new mineral from the Cetine mine, Siena, Italy. Eur J Mineral 8:487–492
Bonsall TA, Spry PG, Voudouris PCh, Tombros S, Seymour KS, Melfos V (2011) The geochemistry of carbonate-replacement Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization in the Lavrion district, Attica, Greece: fluid inclusion, stable isotope, and rare earth element studies. Econ Geol 106:619–651
Burnham CW (1962) Lattice constant refinement. Carnegie Inst Wash Year 61:132–135
Castro MC Jr, Carvalho EFV, Paraguassu W, Ayala AP, Snyder FC, Lufaso MW, de Araujo PCW (2009) Temperature-dependent Raman spectra of Ba2BiSbO6 ceramics. J Raman Spectrosc 40:1205–1210
Devi RN, Vidyasagar K (1998) Synthesis and characterization of new vanadates of antimony, ASbV2O8 (A = K, Rb, Tl or Cs). J Chem Soc, Dalton Trans 1998:3013–3020
Dowty E (2006) ATOMS V6.3.1 for atomic-structure display. Shape Software, 521 Hidden Valley Road, Kingsport, TN 37663 USA
Fawcett SE, Jamieson HE (2011) The distinction between ore processing and post-depositional transformation on the speciation of arsenic and antimony in mine waste and sediment. Chem Geol 283:109–118
Fawcett SE, Jamieson HE, Nordstrom DK, McCleskey RB (2015) Arsenic and antimony geochemistry of mine wastes, associated waters and sediments at the Giant Mine, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Canada Appl Geochem 62:3–17
Fluck F (1968) Description et minéralogie des mines de la région de Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (Haut-Rhin). Bull Serv Carte Géol Als Lorr 21(2):63–120 (in French)
Frenzel M, Voudouris P, Cook NJ, Ciobanu CL, Gilbert S, Wade B (2022) Evolution of a large hydrothermal ore-forming system recorded by sulphide mineral chemistry: A case study from the Plaka Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit, Lavrion, Greece. Miner Deposita 57:417–438
Gagné OC, Hawthorne FC (2015) Comprehensive derivation of bond-valence parameters for ion pairs involving oxygen. Acta Crystallogr B 71:562–578
Glamazda A, Lemmens P, Do S-H, Choi K-Y (2017) Comparative Raman scattering study of Ba3MSb2O9 (M = Zn, Co and Cu). Low Temp Phys 43:543–550
Kolitsch U, Rieck B, Brandstätter F, Schreiber F, Fabritz KH, Blaß G, Gröbner J (2014) Neufunde aus dem altem Bergbau und den Schlacken von Lavrion (I). Mineralien-Welt 25(1):60–75
Leleu M (1966) Les gisements plombo-zincifères du Laurium (Grèce). Sci De La Terre XI(3):293–343 (in French)
Leleu M (1969) Pseudovein mineralization and its formation medium: vein 80 (Laurium, Greece). Bull Soc Fr Minéral Cristallogr 92:101–104 (in French)
Libowitzky E (1999) Correlation of O-H stretching frequencies and O-H···O hydrogen bond lengths in minerals. Monatsh Chem 130:1047–1059
Mandarino JA (1981) The Gladstone-Dale relationship: Part IV. The compatibility concept and its application. Can Mineral 19:441–450
Mandarino JA (2007) The Gladstone-Dale compatibility of minerals and its use in selecting mineral species for further study. Can Mineral 45:1307–1324
Mitsunobu S, Harada T, Takashi Y (2006) Comparison of antimony behavior with that of arsenic under various soil redox conditions. Env Sci Technol 40:7270–7276
Ondruš P (1993) A computer program for analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. Mat Sci Forum, EPDIC-2. Enchede 133–136:297–300
Otwinowski Z, Borek D, Majewski W, Minor W (2003) Multiparametric scaling of diffraction intensities. Acta Crystallogr A 59:228–234
Pieczka A, Cooper MA, Hawthorne FC (2019) Lepageite, Mn2+3(Fe3+7Fe2+4)O3[Sb3+5As3+8O34], a new arsenite-antimonite mineral from the Szklary pegmatite, Lower Silesia, Poland. Am Mineral 104:1043–1050
Plášil J, Kampf AR, Meisser N, Lheur C, Brunsperger T, Škoda R (2020) Smamite, Ca2Sb(OH)4[H(AsO4)2]·6H2O, a new mineral and a possible sink for Sb during weathering of fahlore. Am Mineral 105:555–560
Pekov IV, Zubkova NV, Göttlicher J, Yapaskurt VO, Chukanov NV, Lykova IS, Belakovskiy DI, Jensen MC, Leising JF, Nikischer AJ, Pushcharovsky DY (2014) Whitecapsite, a new hydrous iron and trivalent antimony arsenate mineral from the White Caps mine, Nevada, USA. Eur J Mineral 26:577–587
Pouchou JL, Pichoir F (1985) “PAP” (πρZ) procedure for improved quantitative microanalysis. In: Analysis M (ed) Armstrong JT. San Francisco Press, California, pp 104–106
Rieck B, Rieck P (1999) Silber, Arsen und Antimon: Vererzungen im Revier Plaka (Teil 2). Lapis 24(7–8):59–60
Rieck B, Kolitsch U, Voudouris P, Giester G, Tzeferis P (2018) Weitere Neufunde aus Lavrion, Griechenland. Mineralien-Welt 29(5):32–77
Rieck B, Kolitsch U, Voudouris P, Giester G, Tzeferis P (2020) Lavrion, Griechenland: Weitere Neufunde aus dem berühmten Bergbaurevier. Mineralien-Welt 31(3):6–21
Rieck B, Kolitsch U, Voudouris P, Giester G, Tzeferis P (2022) Neubestimmungen aus dem Minenbezirk Lavrion, Griechenland. Mineralien-Welt 33(5):6–20
Ritchie VJ, Ilgen AG, Mueller SH, Trainor TP, Goldfarb RJ (2013) Mobility and chemical fate of antimony and arsenic in historic mining environments of the Kantishna Hills district, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Chem Geol 335:172–188
Scheffer C, Tarantola A, Vanderhaeghe O, Voudouris P, Spry PG, Rigaudier T, Photiades A (2019) The Lavrion Pb-Zn-Ag–rich vein and breccia detachment-related deposits (Greece): Involvement of evaporated seawater and meteoric fluids during postorogenic exhumation. Econ Geol 114:1415–1442
Shannon RD, Fischer RX (2016) Empirical electronic polarizabilities of ions for the prediction and interpretation of refractive indices. I.Oxides and oxysalts. Am Mineral 101:2288–2300
Sheldrick GM (2008) A short history of SHELX. Acta Crystallogr A 64:112–122
Skarpelis N (2007) The Lavrion deposit (SE Attica, Greece): geology, mineralogy and minor elements chemistry. N Jahrb Mineral, Abh 183:227–249
Skarpelis N, Argyraki A (2009) Geology and origin of supergene ores in Lavrion (Attica, Greece). Resour Geol 59:1–14
Vandenborre MT, Husson E, Brusset H, Cerez A (1980) Spectres de vibration et calcul du champ de force des antimoniates de structure ‘type PbSb2O6.’ Spectrochim Acta, Part A 36:1045–1052 (in French)
von Eller J-P, Weil R (1966) Les gîtes métallifères de la région de Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (Haut-Rhin). Bull Serv Carte Géol Als Lorr 15(2):69–80 (in French)
Voudouris P, Melfos V, Spry PG, Bonsall T, Tarkian M, Economou-Eliopoulos M (2008) Mineralogical and fluid inclusion constraints on the evolution of the Plaka intrusion-related ore system, Lavrion, Greece. Mineral Petrol 93:79–110
Wendel W, Markl G (1996) Eine Antimonit-Paragenese und weitere Neufunde aus Lavrion. Lapis 21(11):40–42, 62
Acknowledgements
Constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers and Guest Editor Karen Friese helped to improve the manuscript. The study was financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (long-term project DKRVO 2019-2023/1.II.e; National Museum, 00023272, to JS).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial handling: K. Friese
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Kolitsch, U., Sejkora, J., Topa, D. et al. Prachařite, CaSb5+2(As3+2O5)2O2·10H2O, a new mineral from Lavrion, Greece. Miner Petrol 117, 269–280 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-023-00830-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-023-00830-5