Images
Formula: Pd4Cu3Zn
Alloy of palladium, copper and
zinc, platinum group mineral
Crystal System: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 11.16 calculated
Hardness: 4½ to 5
Colour: Steel-white
Environments
Bortnikovite is a relatively new mineral, approved in 2006.
Localities
At the type locality, the Konder alkaline-ultrabasic massif, Ayan-Maya district, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,
bortnikovite occurs as steel-white, metallic overgrowth rims of approximately 50–150 μm on larger
isoferroplatinum grains. The deposit is a unique
placer deposit derived from a concentrically zoned alkaline
ultramafic massif, and dunite
is the primary source of the platinum group minerals themselves.
Associated minerals include
titanite, perovskite,
magnetite, isoferroplatinum,
chlorite and bornite
(AM 93.705, Mindat)
Back to Minerals