Ulf Hålenius

Swedish Museum of Natural History · Department of Geosciences

NaFe3+3(Fe2+2Al4)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, is a new mineral of the tourmaline supergroup. It was discovered in a giant collapsed cavity discovered in the "Marina" granitic pegmatite, at the Mavuco locality in the Alto Ligoña pegmatite district, NE Mozambique (46°03'30.74''N-8°48'24.47''E, 730 m asl). Ferro-bosiite occurs as black acicular late-stage ov...

Tourmalines from Elba Island are easily recognizable and distinguishable from those of all other world localities for their delicate pastel colors and the perfection of their crystal shape, even in small sizes. Some colors displayed by tourmalines were recorded for the first time in crystals from Elba Island. Among these, a peculiar color is the "l...

Tourmaline is well known to be an efficient geological tool for investigating P-T-X conditions in all crustal settings within the Earth given its ability to register and preserve the chemical composition and the redox conditions of the environment in which it crystallized (Dutrow & Henry, 2011). These features are well highlighted in a tourmaline g...

Natural Fe2+-rich princivalleite was thermally treated in the air at 700 °C to study crystal-chemical and color variations due to changes in oxidation states of Fe and Mn and atom ordering. Overall, the experimental data (electron microprobe, structural refinement, Mössbauer, infrared, and optical absorption spectroscopy) show that thermal treatmen...

In this communication we present a brief response to Hawthorne (2023) who, in a paper in volume 87, doi.org/10.1180/mgm.2023.8 (this journal), claims evidence for violations of the electroneutrality principle in mineral formulae derived through IMA–CNMNC procedures: i.e. the dominant-constituent rule, the valency-imposed double site-occupancy, the...

Piccoliite, ideally NaCaMn3+2(AsO4)2O(OH), is a new mineral discovered in the Fe-Mn ore hosted in metaquartzites of the Montaldo di Mondovì mine, Corsaglia Valley, Cuneo Province, Piedmont, Italy. It occurs as small and rare black crystals and aggregates hosted by a matrix of quartz, associated with calcite and berzeliite/manganberzeliite. It has b...

Multicoloured tourmalines from Elba Island, commonly display dark-coloured terminations due to incorporation of Fe, and also occasionally Mn. The mechanisms which led to the availability of these elements in the late-stage residual fluids are not yet completely understood. For this purpose, we investigated a representative tourmaline crystal found...

Two tourmaline crystals with a blue growth zone at the analogous pole, respectively from the San Silvestro and the Fucili pegmatites, located in the San Piero in Campo village, Elba Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), have been described for the first time using compositional and spectroscopic data to define their crystal-chemical aspects and the cause...

Following the identification of a new occurrence of melanostibite from the Apuan Alps, the crystal chemistry of this mineral has been re-examined using specimens from its type locality, Sjögruvan, Örebro County, Sweden, and from the new occurrence, the Scortico–Ravazzone Mn ore deposit, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. Both specimens were examined throu...

Ferro-bosiite, NaFe3+3(Al4Fe2+2)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, has been found in the “Marina” granitic pegmatite, Mavuco, Alto Ligoña, Nampula Province, Mozambique (15°54'16'' S, 39°02'56'' E). Ferdinando Bosi*, Alessandra Altieri, Henrik Skobgy, Federico Pezzotta, Ulf Hålenius, Gioacchino Tempesta, Paolo Ballirano, Tomáš Flégr, and Jan Cempírek. *E-mail: f...

Uvite, CaMg3(Al5Mg)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH), is a new mineral of the tourmaline supergroup. It occurs in the Facciatoia quarry, San Piero in Campo, Elba Island, Italy (42°45′04.55″N, 10°12′50.89″E) at the centre of a narrow (2–3 cm wide) vein composed of aggregates of dark brown to black tourmaline, penetrating (magnesite + dolomite)-rich hydrotherm...

A crystal fragment of schorl from Langesundsfjord (Norway), showing a zonation with a biaxial optic behavior in the rim, was studied by electron microprobe analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer, infrared and optical absorption spectroscopy and optical measurements. Measured 2Vx is 15.6°. We concluded that biaxial character of the sa...

Lombardoite, ideally Ba2Mn3+(AsO4)2(OH), and aldomarinoite, ideally Sr2Mn3+(AsO4)2(OH), are two new minerals of the arsenbrackebuschite group in the brackebuschite supergroup, discovered in Fe-Mn ore in metaquartzites of the abandoned mine of Valletta, Canosio, Val Maira, Cuneo Province, Piedmont, Italy. They occur as red-brown and orange brown, re...

Discreditation of the monoclinic tourmaline mineral species luinaite-(OH), ideally (Na,▯)(Fe2+,Mg)3Al6(BO3)3Si6O18(OH)4 was approved by the IMA-CNMNC (proposal 21-L) and is described. We analyzed two luinaite-(OH) samples: one from the type locality Cleveland tin mine, Luina, Waratah, Tasmania, Australia, and the other from Blue Mountain Saddle (Ba...

Princivalleite, Na(Mn 2 Al)Al 6 (Si 6 O 18 )(BO 3 ) 3 (OH) 3 O, is a new mineral (IMA2020-056) of the tourmaline supergroup. It occurs in the Veddasca Valley, Luino area, Varese, Lombardy, Italy (46°03’30.74’’N, 8°48’24.47’’E) at the centre of a narrow (2–3 cm wide) vertical pegmatitic vein, a few metres long, crosscutting a lens of flaser gneiss....

Brattforsite is an approved mineral (IMA2019-127), with ideal formula Mn 19 (AsO 3 ) 12 Cl 2 . Associated minerals in the type specimen from the Brattfors mine, Nordmark (Värmland, Sweden) include jacobsite, alleghanyite, phlogopite, calcite and dolomite. Brattforsite, forming subhedral, mostly equant crystals up to 0.5 mm across, is orange to redd...

The new mineral bianchiniite, Ba 2 (Ti ⁴⁺ V ³⁺ )(As 2 O 5 ) 2 OF, has been discovered in the Monte Arsiccio mine, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. It occurs as brown {001} tabular crystals, up to 1 mm across, with a vitreous lustre. It is brittle, with a perfect {001} cleavage. Streak is brownish. In reflected light, bianchiniite is grey, with orange–ye...

Magnesio-lucchesiite, ideally CaMg3Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, is a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup. The holotype material was discovered within a lamprophyre dike that cross-cuts tourmaline-rich metapelites within the exocontact of the O’Grady Batholith, Northwest Territories (Canada). Two additional samples were found at San Piero i...

A gem-quality purplish-red tourmaline sample of alleged liddicoatitic composition from the Anjanabonoina pegmatite, Madagascar, has been fully characterized using a multi-analytical approach to define its crystal-chemical identity. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, chemical and spectroscopic analysis resulted in theformula: X(Na0.410.35Ca0.24)Σ1.0...

High concentrations of vanadium cause very unusual coloration in hibonite (purple) and grossite (light violet) crystals in an exotic mineral assemblage from Sierra de Comechingones (Argentina). In the hibonite (CaAl12O19) structure vanadium ions, in various valence states (divalent, trivalent, and tetravalent), may be distributed over five crystall...

Princivalleite Na(Mn2Al)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O Along the cut of a small road on the eastern side of the Curiglia Village, Veddasca Valley, Luino (Varese), Lombardy, Italy (46◦03030.7400 N, 8◦48024.4700 E) Ferdinando Bosi*, Federico Pezzotta, Henrik Skobgy, Alessandra Altieri, Ulf Hålenius, Gioacchino Tempesta, and Jan Cempírek *E-mail: ferdinando....

New occurrences of derbylite, Fe x ²⁺ Fe ³⁺ 4–2 x Ti ⁴⁺ 3+ x Sb ³⁺ O 13 (OH), and graeserite, Fe x ²⁺ Fe ³⁺ 4–2 x Ti ⁴⁺ 3+ x As ³⁺ O 13 (OH), have been identified in the Monte Arsiccio mine, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. Derbylite occurs as prismatic to acicular black crystals in carbonate veins. Iron and Ti are replaced by V (up to 0.29 atoms per fo...

The new mineral species rüdlingerite, ideally Mn2+2V5+As5+O7·2H2O occurs in the Fianel mine, in Val Ferrera, Grisons, Switzerland, a small Alpine metamorphic Mn deposit. It is associated with ansermetite and Fe oxyhydroxide in thin fractures in Triassic dolomitic marbles. Rüdlingerite was also found on specimens recovered from the dump of the Valle...

Mangani-pargasite, ideally NaCa2(Mg4Mn3+)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2, is a new mineral species of the calcium amphibole subgroup of the amphibole supergroup. The type specimen was found on the mine dump of the Långban Fe-Mn-(Ba-As-Pb-Sb) deposit in Värmland, Sweden. Crystal chemical analyses resulted in the empirical chemical formula: A(Na0.90Pb0.07K0.03)Σ1....

The type material for heliophyllite, preserved in the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, was re-investigated through a combined EPMA (electron probe X-ray microanalysis), Raman, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and single-crystal study. EPMA chemical data, together with Raman and single-crystal structural studies, point to heliophyl...

A nomenclature and classification scheme has been approved by IMA–CNMNC for the magnetoplumbite group, with the general formula A[B12]O19. The classification on the highest hierarchical level is decided by the dominant metal at the 12-coordinated A sites, at present leading to the magnetoplumbite (A = Pb), hawthorneite (A = Ba) and hibonite (A = Ca...

The new mineral species bohuslavite, Fe 3þ 4 (PO 4) 3 (SO 4)(OH)(H 2 O) 10 ÁnH 2 O (5 n 14), has been discovered in the Buca 25 della Vena baryte ± iron oxides ± pyrite ore deposit, Apuan Alps, Tuscany (Italy), and in the Horní Město deposit, northern Moravia 26 (Czech Republic). It occurs as pinkish to lilac tabular {001} crystals, with a pseudo-h...

The new mineral species scordariite, K8(Fe 3+ 0.67□0.33)[Fe 3+ 3O(SO4)6(H2O)3]2(H2O)11, was discovered in the Monte Arsiccio mine, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. It occurs as pseudo-hexagonal tabular crystals, yellowish to brownish in color, up to 0.5 mm in size. Cleavage is perfect on {0001}. It is associated with giacovazzoite, krausite, gypsum, jar...

Mineral species should be identified by an end-member formula and by using the dominant-valency rule as recommended by the IMA–CNMNC. However, the dominant-end-member approach has also been used in the literature. These two approaches generally converge, but for some intermediate compositions, significant differences between the dominant-valency ru...

An inclusive study of tourmaline, a well-known petrogenetic indicator, allowed the reconstruction of late-stage evolution of B-bearing Variscan granodioritic magmas in Sardinia batholith (Italy). Tourmaline samples from Mandrolisai igneous massif were chemically and structurally investigated by electron microprobe analysis, single-crystal X-ray dif...

Ecdemite from Harstigen, Värmland, Central Sweden, was studied through Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, electron-microprobe techniques, synchrotron powder and single-crystal diffraction. The ideal mineral formula proposed by Palache, Pb6Cl4As2O7, is confirmed. In contrast to previous suggestions, however, the present study demonstrates that the mineral...

Twenty natural spinel single crystals displaying colors almost representative for the entire spinel variability were investigated by electron microprobe and UV–VIS–NIR–MIR and FTIR spectroscopies. Eight of them, selected among the Fe-bearing ones, were also analyzed by X-ray diffraction, and five by Mössbauer spectroscopy to obtain information on t...

An Fe-rich fluor-elbaite was thermally treated in air and hydrogen atmosphere up to 800 °C to study potential changes in Fe- and Al-ordering over the octahedrally coordinated Y and Z sites. Overall, the experimental data (structural refinement, electron and ion microprobe, Mössbauer, infrared and optical absorption spectroscopy) show that thermal t...

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 and 2019 - Volume 83 Issue 1 - Ritsuro Miyawaki, Ulf Hålenius, Frédéric Hatert, Marco Pasero, Stuart J. Mills

Ettringite, reported with ideal formula Ca6Al2(SO4)3(OH)12·26H2O, is recognized as a secondary-alteration mineral and as an important crystalline constituent of Portland cements, playing different roles at different time scales. It contains more than 40 wt% of H2O. The crystal structure and crystal chemistry of ettringite were investigated by elect...

A reinvestigation of gabrielsonite from the holotype specimen from Långban, central Sweden, using single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction, electron-microprobe techniques and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies show that the mineral is an anhydrous Fe³⁺-bearing arsenite and not a hydrous Fe²⁺-beari...

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 - Volume 82 Issue 6 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 - Volume 82 Issue 5 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 - Volume 82 Issue 2 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

Natural Mg-rich lucchesiite was thermally treated in air and hydrogen atmosphere up to 800 °C to study potential changes in Fe-, Mg- and Al ordering over the octahedrally coordinated Y- and Z-sites, and to explore possible applications to intracrystalline geothermometry based on tourmaline. Overall, the experimental data (structural refinement, Mös...

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2018 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

Synthetic clinopyroxenes along the CaMgSi2O6–CaCoSi2O6 join were investigated by a combined chemical-structural-spectroscopic approach. Single crystals were synthesized by flux growth methods, both from Ca-saturated and Ca-deficient starting compositions. Single crystal structure refinements show that the incorporation of Co²⁺ at the octahedrally c...

Tourmalines from the late-Variscan Arbus pluton (SW Sardinia) and its metamorphic aureole were structurally and chemically characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron and nuclear microprobe analysis, Mössbauer, infrared and optical absorption spectroscopy, to elucidate their origin and relationships with the magmatic evolution durin...

IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) NEWSLETTER 41: New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2017 and 2018 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

Ulfanderssonite-(Ce) is a new mineral (IMA 2016-107) from the long-abandoned Malmkärra iron mine, one of the Bastnäs-type Fe-rare earth element (REE) deposits in the Bergslagen ore region, central Sweden. It is named for Ulf B. Andersson, a Swedish geologist and petrologist. In the type specimen, the mineral occurs with västmanlandite-(Ce), bastnäs...

Delhuyarite-(Ce) is a new mineral (IMA no. 2016-091) with ideal formula Ce 4 Mg(Fe 3+ 2 W)□(Si 2 O 7 ) 2 O 6 (OH) 2 . It is named after Juan and Fausto de Elhuyar (Delhuyar), chemists and metallurgists, who in 1783 isolated tungsten metal for the first time. Associated minerals in the only known sample, from the Nya Bastnas Fe–Cu–REE deposit (Vastm...

Oxy-foitite, □(Fe²⁺Al2)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, is a new mineral of the tourmaline supergroup. It occurs in high-grade migmatitic gneisses of pelitic composition at the Cooma metamorphic Complex (New South Wales, Australia), in association with muscovite, K-feldspar and quartz. Crystals are black with a vitreous luster, sub-conchoidal fracture and...

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2017 - Volume 81 Issue 6 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

The crystal structure of turneaureite, ideally Ca5(AsO4)3Cl, was studied using a specimen from the Brattfors mine, Nordmark, Värmland, Sweden, by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The structure was refined to R1 = 0.017 on the basis of 716 unique reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo) in the P63/m space group, with unit-cell parameters a = 9.92...

New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2017 - Volume 81 Issue 5 - U. Hålenius, F. Hatert, M. Pasero, S. J. Mills

Ion beam analysis has for decades been used as a tool for geochemical analysis of trace elements using both X-rays (particle induced X-ray emission) and nuclear reaction analysis. With the geoanalytical setup at the Lund Ion Beam Analysis Facility, the boron content in geological samples with a spatial resolution of 1 µm is determined through nucle...