Formula:
Fe3+3(PO4)2(OH)3.3H2O
Hydrated phosphate containing hydroxyl
Crystal System: Triclinic
Specific gravity: 2.8 to 2.94 measured, 2.97 calculated
Hardness: 2½
Streak: White
Colour: Creamy white with yellowish or brownish tint, bright ochre-yellow
Solubility: Insoluble in water, sulphuric and nitric acids, slowly soluble in hydrochloric acid (Dana).
Common impurities: V,S
Environments
Sedimentary environments
Hydrothermal environments
Tinticite is a rare phosphate commonly associated with carbonate-rich
goethite and
montgomeryite (Mindat).
At the type locality for tinticite, an unnamed limestone cave in
the Tintic
Standard Mine, Utah county, Utah, USA, the limestone
surrounding the cave carries pyrite, which accounts for the iron, while the
phosphate is
derived from bat guano on high ledges of the cave (AM31.395-400). The tinticite is associated with
jarosite and limonite
(HOM, Mindat).
At Bruguers, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, tinticite occurs in jarosite-rich
shale formed by weathering of rocks containing
apatite and jarosite. Associated
minerals include
montgomeryite, carbonate-rich
apatite
and
goethite (HOM, AM74.1404).
At the phosphate deposits of South Australia, tinticite has been found at both Klemm's and Tom's quarries, in
the Mount Lofty ranges,
with natrojarosite and jarosite.
It appears
to be an alteration product of jarosite (AJM 17.1.26).
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