Chernikovite, Rockelmann Quarry, Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg District, Erzgebirge, Germany — Photo: Weirdmeister · CC BY-SA 4.0
Chernikovite
Chernikovite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the phosphate class, with the chemical formula (H₃O)(UO₂)(PO₄)·3H₂O.
It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system (space group P4/nmm). It is a member of the Natroautunite structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 3.259; Vitreous luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Ckv, IMA status: approved, named in 1985.
Found in fissures in quartz syenite and around fossil wood (Karakat deposit, Tajikistan); along fractures in tourmaline-bearing granites and granite pegmatites (Perus district, Brazil).
It is found associated with Autunite, meta-autunite, sodium autunite (Karakat deposit, Tajikistan); autunite, meta-autunite, uranophane, uranophane-beta, phosphuranylite, torbernite.
The mineral was named to honor Dr. Andrei Andreevich Chernikov (1927–), Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Rare Elements, Moscow, Russia, who first described naturally-occurring material.