Strashimirite (
IMA symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
: Ssh) is a rare monoclinic
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
containing
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
, and
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
. It has the chemical formula Cu
8(AsO
4)
4(OH)
4·5(H
2O).
This mineral was discovered in Zapachitsa (Zapacica) copper deposit,
Svoge
Svoge ( bg, Своге, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is ...
,
Sofia Oblast,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
in 1960, by the Bulgarian mineralogist
Jordanka Minceva-Stefanova. She named the mineral after
Strashimir Dimitrov
Strašimir Dimitrov ( bg, Страшимир Димитров) (1930—2001) was a Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the ea ...
(1892-1960), Professor in Mineralogy and Petrography at
Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski", Bulgaria. The
International Mineralogical Association
Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. Th ...
approved it as a new mineral in 1968.
It occurs as a secondary mineral phase in the oxidation zone of copper arsenide deposits. It occurs associated with
tyrolite
Tyrolite is a hydrated calcium copper arsenate carbonate mineral with formula: Ca Cu5( As O4)2 CO3(O H)4·6 H2O. Tyrolite forms glassy blue to green orthorhombic radial crystals and botryoidal masses. It has a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2 and a spe ...
,
cornwallite,
clinoclase,
euchroite,
olivenite
Olivenite is a copper arsenate mineral, formula Cu2 As O4O H. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system (pseudo-orthorhombic), and is sometimes found in small brilliant crystals of simple prismatic habit terminated by domal faces. More commonly ...
,
parnauite,
goudeyite,
arthurite
Arthurite is a mineral composed of divalent copper and iron ions in combination with trivalent arsenate, phosphate and sulfate ions with hydrogen and oxygen.Frost R. L., Duong L., Martens W. (2003) Molecular assembly in secondary minerals - Raman ...
,
metazeunerite,
chalcophyllite
Chalcophyllite is a rare secondary copper arsenate mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of some arsenic-bearing copper deposits. It was first described from material collected in Germany. At one time chalcophyllite from Wheal Tamar in Cornwall ...
,
cyanotrichite
Cyanotrichite is a hydrous copper aluminium sulfate mineral with formula Cu4Al2 SO42H2O, also known as lettsomite. Cyanotrichite forms velvety radial acicular crystal aggregates of extremely fine fibers. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system a ...
,
scorodite
Scorodite is a common hydrated iron arsenate mineral, with the chemical formula FeAsO4·2H2O. It is found in hydrothermal deposits and as a secondary mineral in gossans worldwide. Scorodite weathers to limonite.
Scorodite was discovered in the S ...
,
pharmacosiderite
Pharmacosiderite is a hydrated basic ferric arsenate, with chemical formula K Fe4( As O4)3(O H)4·(6-7) H2O and a molecular weight of 873.38 g/mol. It consists of the elements arsenic, iron, hydrogen, potassium, sodium and oxygen. It has a Mohs ...
,
brochantite
Brochantite is a sulfate mineral, one of a number of cupric sulfates. Its chemical formula is Cu4SO4(OH)6. Formed in arid climates or in rapidly oxidizing copper sulfide deposits, it was named by Armand Lévy for his fellow Frenchman, geologist ...
,
azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...
,
malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...
and
chrysocolla.
[
Although it remains quite rare, strashimirite has subsequently been identified in a number of locations including: Novoveska Huta in the Czech Republic; on the west flank of Cherbadung (Pizzo Cervandone), Binntal,
Valais, Switzerland; in Kamsdorf and Saalfeld, Thuringia, Germany; the ]Clara mine
The Clara Pit (german: Grube Clara) or Clara Mine is a working mine in Oberwolfach in the Black Forest in Germany in which the industrial minerals, baryte and fluorspar are mined.
Importance
The pit is well known because, to date, over 375 diff ...
, near Oberwolfach, Black Forest, Germany; in the Richelsdorf Mountains, Hesse, Germany; Cap Garonne mine, near le Pradet, Var, and Triembach-au-Val, Haut-Rhin, France; Wheals Gorland and Unity, Gwennap, Cornwall, England; the Tynagh mine, near Loughrea, Co.
Galway, Ireland; the Majuba Hill mine, Antelope district, Pershing Co. Nevada, US; and the Centennial Eureka mine, Tintic district, Juab Co., Utah, US.[
]
See also
* List of minerals named after people
Notes
External links
*
{{Commons category, Strashimirite, position=left
Arsenate minerals
Minerals in space group 3
Minerals in space group 6
Minerals in space group 10
Monoclinic minerals