May 15 2013
Otavite is a rare cadmium carbonate mineral first described in 1906 from the Tsumeb district near Otavi, Nambia. It is a member of calcite group. The mineral was named after its place of discovery.
Properties of Otavite
The following are the key properties of Otavite:
- Cell Data
- Space Group: R3c (synthetic)
- a = 4.93
- c = 16.27
- Z = 6
- Crystal Data
- Hexagonal
- Point Group: 3 2/m
- Rhombohedra, {1011}, to 2 mm, typically in thin crusts
- Twinning: Observed
- X-ray Powder Pattern : 2.95 (100), 3.78 (80), 2.46 (35), 1.825 (35), 2.066 (25), 1.838 (25), 1.582 (16).
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
Content 2 |
| CdO |
70.2 |
43.12 |
| CO2 |
- |
29.55 |
| ZnO |
- |
27.33 |
| Total |
- |
100.00 |
- Optical Properties
- Optical Class: [Uniaxial (–).]
- ω = 1.830
- ε = 1.605
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density)=4.59 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Otavite =5.07 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PEOtavite = 173.75 barns/electron
U= PEOtavite x ρElectron density= 797.03 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.16
Boson index = 0.84 |
Radioactivity
|
Otavite is not radioactive
|
How to Identify Otavite
Otavite is reddish white, red, white or yellow brown in color. It is a fluorescent mineral having perfect cleavage, transparent to translucent appearance, white streak and adamantine luster. Its fractures are brittle, producing small, conchoidal fragments. It occurs as euhedral crystals or crust-like aggregates on matrix. The relative hardness of otavite ranges from 3.5 to 4, and its density is 5.03 g/cm3.
Global Distribution
Otavite is distributed in the following places:
- Tsumeb, Namibia
- Bilyakchan fracture system, southern Verkhoyan’ya, in the Orenburg district, Southern Ural Mountains, Russia
- Beresovsk, near Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), Middle Ural Mountains
- Montevecchio Pb–Zn mine, Sardinia, Italy
- Laurium, Greece
- Coldstones quarry, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, England
- Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
- Niujiaotang zinc deposit, Duyun, Guizhou Province, China
- Mo Ba Pb–Zn deposit, North Vietnam
- Blanchard mine, near Bingham, Hansonburg district, Socorro Co., New Mexico
- Franklin, Sussex Co., New Jersey.
Occurrence of Otavite and Useful Mineral Association
Otavite occurs as a rare secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of hydrothermal base-metal deposits. It is closely associated with minerals such as fluorite, calcite, pyromorphite, olivenite, rosasite, malachite, azurite, hemimorphite, hydrozincite, cerussite and smithsonite.
References