Müllerite, the Fe-analogue of backite from Otto Mountain, California, USA

Abstract

Müllerite (IMA2019–060) is a new mineral found at several workings on Otto Mountain, 2.5 km NW of Baker, San Bernardino County, California, USA. Müllerite occurs as hexagonal tablets and thin plates up to 0.2 mm across, intergrown ball-like clusters, and scattered flakes. Crystals are yellow, tending to reddish-orange, and have a pale-yellow streak and subadamantine to greasy luster. Crystals are brittle with an irregular fracture and have a hardness of ∼2 and perfect cleavage on {001}. The main forms observed are {100} and {001}. The calculated density is 5.812 g/cm3. The empirical formula (based on 7 O + Cl + I apfu) is Pb1.83Ag0.26Fe0.93Al0.03Cu0.02Te6+0.95O5.56Cl1.30I0.14; the endmember formula is Pb2Fe3+(Te6+O6)Cl. Müllerite is trigonal, space group P312, with the unit cell parameters a = 5.2040(5), c = 8.9654(12) Å, V = 210.23(3) Å3, and Z = 1. The crystal structure of müllerite was refined using Rietveld analysis and converged to Rwp = 4.861%, S = 0.1873, RB = 1.800%, and RF = 0.691%. Müllerite is the Fe-analogue of backite, Pb2Al3+(Te6+O6)Cl.