Gallobeudantite is a secondary, Gallium-bearing mineral of

beudantite Beudandite is a secondary mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of polymetallic deposits. It is a lead, iron, arsenate, sulfate with endmember formula: PbFe3(OH)6SO4AsO4. Beudantite is in a subgroup of the alunite group. It is the arsenate an ...

, where the

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

is replaced with

Gallium Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875, Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table and is similar to the other metals of the group (aluminiu ...

, a rare-earth metal. It was first described as a distinct mineral by Jambor et al in 1996. Specific Gallium minerals are generally rare and Gallium itself is usually obtained as a

by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be consid ...

during the processing of the ores of other metals. In particular, the main source material for

is bauxite, a key ore of aluminium. However, Gallobeudantite is too rare to be of economic value. Its main interest is academic and also among mineral collectors. Jambor et al. describes Gallobeudantite as having occurred as zoned rhombohedra, up to 200 μm along an edge, in

vugs A vug, vugh, or vugg ( ) is a small- to medium-sized cavity inside rock. It may be formed through a variety of processes. Most commonly, cracks and fissures opened by tectonic activity (folding and faulting) are partially filled by quartz, cal ...

in a single specimen of massive Cu-bearing sulfides from Tsumeb, Namibia. Gallobeudantite can be pale yellow, greenish, or cream-colored and has a white to pale yellow streak. It has a vitreous luster. Since the discovery of Gallobeudantite, there has been renewed interest in this class of mineral, particularly in the famous Apex deposit in Utah and additional studies on the crystal structure of Ga-rich plumbogummite from Tsumeb The mineral has only been found so far in the Namibian

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German language, German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption ...

Mine, located in the

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

. The mineral is a mixture of three elements Gallium, Arsenic and Lead with the formula PbGa3 AsO4),(SO4) (OH)6.

References

{{reflist Arsenate minerals