Kyawthuite
Oxide mineral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kyawthuite is an extremely rare mineral[2] with formula BiSbO4.[3] It is a natural bismuth antimonate, in which bismuth has oxidation state +3, and antimony oxidation state +5.[4]
| Kyawthuite | |
|---|---|
The only known kyawthuite sample, on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | |
| General | |
| Category | Oxide mineral |
| Formula | BiSbO4 |
| IMA symbol | Kyw[1] |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Space group | I2/c |
| Unit cell | a = 5.46 Å, b = 4.89 Å c = 11.85 Å, β = 101.20° (approximated); Z = 4 |
| Identification | |
| Color | Reddish-orange |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5 1/2 |
| Density | 8.256 g/cm³ |
| References | [2][3] |
The only known sample of kyawthuite is on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Description
Kyawthuite is monoclinic, with space group I2/c, and is isostructural with clinocervantite,[2] its trivalent-antimony-analogue.[5] Kyawthuite is an antimony-analogue of clinobisvanite.[6]
Occurrence
Kyawthuite was discovered in the vicinity of Mogok in Myanmar, an area famous for its variety of gemstone minerals,[7] in 2010 and was subsequently identified as being a new specimen by Dr. Kyaw Thu. The International Mineralogical Association officially recognised kyawthuite as a new mineral in 2015.[8]
Only one 0.3-gram sample of the naturally occurring form of this mineral is documented, and it is stored and on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.[9][10]
