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Formula: Ni5-xAs2 (x = 0.23)
Alloy of nickel and arsenic
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Specific gravity: 6.5 to 7.25 measured, 8.44 calculated
Colour: Rose-bronze
Common impurities: Fe,S,Si,Mg,H2O
Environments
Plutonic igneous environments
Metamorphic environments
Particles of orcelite from partly serpentinised
peridotite from different mantle-derived
ultramafic bodies from around the world have been studied. The
orcelite is associated in serpentine veins with a
copper-nickel rich, sulphide-poor
assemblage. It crystallised at a low temperatue of less than 450oC during
serpentinisation, substituting for a primary
nickeline-maucherite assemblage
as the result of the release of nickel by the
serpentinising solutions. Associated minerals include
pentlandite, heazlewoodite,
millerite, parkerite,
maucherite, breithauptite,
magnetite, nickel,
copper, chalcopyrite,
chalcocite and galena
(CM 22.553-560, HOM).
Localities
At the type locality, the Tiébaghi Cr mine, Tiébaghi Massif, Koumac Commune, Northern Province, New Caledonia, France,
orcelite occurs in serpentinised
harzburgite as inclusions in
pentlandite and as rims on
maucherite
(AM 45.753-754, Mindat).
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