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Formula: NaCaFe3+Al(PO4)F5(OH).H2O
Hydrated phosphate
Crystal system: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 3.11 calculated
Streak: White
Colour: Brownish orange to brownish pink
Luminescence: No fluorescence under UV
Environments
Pegmatites
Hydrothermal environments
Wiperamingaite is a new mineral, approved in 2023 and to date (April 2026) reported only from the type
locality.
Localities
At the type locality, the Wiperaminga Hill West Quarry, Boolcoomatta Reserve, Pastoral Unincorporated Area, South
Australia, pegmatites occur near the base of a prominent range
of hills, which comprise banded quartz -
mica gneiss and
schists. The
pegmatites are mineralogically zoned and comprise an outer
border zone of fine- to medium- grained microcline,
quartz, plagioclase and
muscovite, an intermediate zone of coarse-grained
muscovite, quartz,
microcline, plagioclase,
beryl and apatite (and
triplite), and an inner quartz core or
cores. The pegmatites belong to the
beryl – columbite - phosphate -
rare element type. Triplite –
zwieselite, formed by metasomatic alteration of magmatic
fluorapatite, has been transformed by hydrothermal alteration and
weathering, in an oxidising, low-temperature, low-pH (acid) environment, to give a complex, microcrystalline
intergrowth of secondary phosphate minerals. Besides
secondary phosphates, the
triplite – zwieselite also
contains minor columbite-(Fe),
pyrite, sphalerite,
chalcopyrite and galena.
Wiperamingaite is formed by the hydrothermal alteration of
triplite–zwieselite. It occurs
in a matrix of quartz, minor
triplite and pyrite in association
with fluorite, bermanite,
leucophosphite and
phosphosiderite. Crystals of wiperamingaite are transparent
to translucent, brownish orange to brownish pink tablets, up to 0.25 mm across
(MM 90.59–64).
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