Uricite is a rare

organic mineral An organic mineral is an organic compound in mineral form. An organic compound is any compound containing carbon, aside from some simple ones discovered before 1828. There are three classes of organic mineral: hydrocarbons (containing just hydrog ...

form of

uric acid Uric acid is a heterocyclic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3. It forms ions and salts known as urates and acid urates, such as ammonium acid urate. Uric acid is a product of the metabolic breakdown ...

, C₅H₄N₄O₃. It is a soft yellowish white mineral which crystallizes in the

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

system.

Discovery and occurrence

It was first described in 1973 for an occurrence in

bat guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. ...

in Dingo Donga Cave, Eucla,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The name is for its composition, anhydrous uric acid. It occurs with biphosphammite,

brushite Brushite is a phosphate mineral with the chemical formula . Crystals of the pure compound belong to the monoclinic space group C2/c and are colorless.syngenite Syngenite is an uncommon potassium calcium sulfate mineral with formula K2Ca(SO4)2·H2O. It forms as prismatic monoclinic crystals and as encrustations. Discovery and occurrence It was first described in 1872 for an occurrence as Druse (geology), ...

at the type locality in Dingo Donga Cave.

References

Organic minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 14 Minerals described in 1973 {{mineral-stub