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Formula: (UO2)(Te4+O3)
Uranyl tellurite. To date (March
2024) only three uranyl tellurites are known, schmitterite,
cliffordite and moctezumite.
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 6.916 calculated
Hardness: 1
Streak: White
Colour: Very pale straw yellow, colourless to pale yellow
RADIOACTIVE
Environments
Sedimentary environments
Hydrothermal environments
Schmitterite is a secondary mineral in the oxidised
portions of a
telluride-bearing deposit
(Webmin).
Localities
At Shinkolobwe, Katanga Province, Congo, schmitterite is associated with
uraninite,
siegenite and vaesite
(HOM).
At the type locality, the Moctezuma Mine, Moctezuma, Moctezuma Municipality, Sonora, Mexico, schmitterite was
found sparingly
scattered on emmonsite, or on
limonite
surfaces adjacent to emmonsite encrustations, as single crystals or grains,
or more commonly as small rosettes to 1 mm in diameter. Less commonly schmitterite was found scattered on
quartz fracture surfaces with crusts of small crystals of
moctezumite, sometimes
pseudormorphously replacing the latter
(AM 56.411-415). Associated minerals include emmonsite,
mackayite, cuzticite,
eztlite and limonite
(HOM).
Schmitterite from the Moctezuma mine -
Image
At the San Miguel prospect, 10 km northwest of the Moctezuma mine, Sonora, Mexico, only one specimen collected showed
schmitterite, which was thickly scattered on a druse of mackayite
crystals
(AM 56.411-415).
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