1.62 mm group of Abellaïta white crystals micaceous habit aggregates. Collection Joan Abella i Creus Photo Matteo Chinellato Collected: 2015 Locality: Eureka mine, Castell-estaó, La Torre de Cabdella (La Torre de Capdella), La Vall Fosca, El Pallars Jussà, Lleida (Lérida), Catalonia, Spain Field of View: 1.62 mm — Photo: Matteo Chinellato · CC BY-SA 4.0
Abellaite
A rare hydrous carbonate of sodium and lead found only in the abandoned Eureka uranium mine in Catalonia, Spain.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Abellaite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the carbonate class, with the chemical formula NaPb₂(CO₃)₂(OH).
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P31c).
Key properties: specific gravity 5.93; White streak; Vitreous to nacreous luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Abe, IMA status: approved, named in 2014.
A post-mining, secondary mineral that forms sparse coatings from supergene enrichment of a “red-bed”, sediment-hosted U-V-Cu deposit.
It is found associated with Hydrozincite, aragonite, gordaite, As-vanadinite, andersonite, čejkaite, malachite, devilline.
The mineral was named to honor amateur mineralogist and mineral collector Joan Abella i Creus (b. 1968) from Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain, who collected the first specimens.