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Formula: K4Mg2(V4+2V5+8O28).14H2O
Decavanadate
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 2.630 calculated
Hardness: 2
Streak: Light blue
Colour: Dark greenish blue
Solubility: Slowly soluble in water (days) and easily soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid with immediate loss of
colour (Mindat).
Environments
Bluestreakite was approved in 2014, and to date (July 2023) it has been found only at the type locality.
Localities
The type locality is the Blue Streak mine, Bull Canyon Mining District, Montrose county, Colorado, USA. Here,
uranium U6+ and vanadium V4+ in weakly alkaline,
moderately reducing, CO2-rich ground water, were deposited largely as
uraninite and montroseite
where the solutions encountered more reducing conditions caused by carbonaceous material and H2S.
Subsequent exposure of these deposits to more oxidising near-surface aqueous solutions has resulted in a variety of
secondary phases,
including secondary
vanadium phases containing V4+ and/or V5+.
Bluestreakite was found on
corvusite-montroseite bearing
sandstone blocks, closely associated with
gypsum, huemulite,
hummerite, metamunirite and
munirite. Other minerals found nearby include
calciodelrioite, delrioite,
hughesite,
magnesiopascoite,
metarossite, pascoite,
powellite and rossite.
Bluestreakite forms as a secondary mineral from the
oxidation of montroseite -
corvusite
assemblages in a moist environment
(CM 52.1007-1018).
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