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Formula: (Ni,Zn)x(VO4).nH2O
Valence: (Ni2+,Zn2+)xV5+O4.nH2O surely x should be 1.5, or
V5+ should have subscript (1.6-0.4x)
Hydrated vanadate of nickel and
zinc
Hardness: 2 to 3
Streak: Pale yellow
Colour: Citrine-yellow, greenish yellow
Slightly RADIOACTIVE
Environments
Kolovratite is a questionable mineral species (IMA). It occurs as fibrous and felted aggregates, in
botryoidal crusts and thin encrustations
(HOM)
Localities
At the type locality, Kara-Chagyr Mountain, Kadamjay District, Batken Region, Kyrgyzstan, kolovratite has
been reported in quartz schists
and carbonaceous slates
(HOM).
In 1951 kolovratite was also reported to be widely distributed as yellow to greenish yellow encrustations and
botryoidal crusts in quartz
schists and carbonaceous
slates at Uch-Kurgan, Ferghana Valley, Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. The lack
of descriptive data has long resulted in the mineral being regarded as a doubtful species.
In 1955 an investigation of copper and
vanadium arsenates from the Agalyk
U-V deposit, Kara-Tyube Mtn, Samarqand, Uzbekistan, a specimen purported to be kolovratite was found to be
identical to vésigniéite, leading to a suggestion that
kolovratite should be discredited.
In 1962, however, Two specimens of kolovratite from the type locality were examined. The X-ray powder patterns
of the two kolovratites are identical, but differ markedly from the pattern of
vésigniéite. Small samples of greenish crusts were scraped from each of
the samples for testing. The close similarity in the ratios of the major constituents and the identical powder
diffraction patterns obtained from the two specimens suggests that a single
nickel - zinc -
vanadium mineral is present in both specimens
(CM 7.311–314).
The jury is still out!
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