Brown crystals of the very rare tellurium mineral kuranakhite from the famous locality of Moctezuma (Moctezuma Mine, Moctezuma, Moctezuma Municipality, Sonora, Mexico). Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kuranakhite
Kuranakhite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula PbMn⁴⁺Te⁶⁺O₆.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 4–5; specific gravity 6.72; Brown streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Kkh, IMA status: approved, named in 1974.
Found in the oxidized zone of a gold quartz deposit (Kuranakh deposit, Russia; Jialu deposit, China).
It is found associated with Gold, “electrum”, iron oxides (Kuranakh deposit, Russia); gold, calaverite, pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, altaite, cerussite, anglesite.
The name refers to the Kuranakh deposit, Russia, where it was first found to occur.