Canadian lllineralo gist
Vol. 17, pp. 107-109 (1979)
A NEW NICKEL
NIGKELBISCHOFITE, HYDRATE
CHLORIDE
WILSON W. CROOK, III
Mobil Oil Corporation,P.O, Box 5444, Denver, Colorado 80217, U.S.A.
JOHN L. JAMBOR
CANMET,555 Booth St.,Ottawa,OntarioKIA 0Gl
ABSTRACT INtnoPucrroN
Nickelbischofite, NiClr.611r9, occurs in a The first indications that the compound NiClz'
sulfate sublimate from Mt. Shirane, Iapan, as an 6HrO occurs in nature were obtained by Shima
alteration product on drill core from the Dumont (1957) in his study of sulfate-rich sublirnates
ultramafic intrusion, Quebec, and as a supergene from Mt. Shirane, Gumma Prefecture, Japan.
mineral at the Oxford serpentine quarry, Llano Based on X-ray patterns and the presence of
County, Texas. Tbe Texas material occurs as nickel and chlorine in a green sublimate,Shima
0.1-15 mm individual crystals and powdery coat-
ings associated with zaratite, erytlrite. annabergite
concludedthat the material was mainly alunogen
and albrittonite (CoClr.6HgO). Nickelbischofite with about 3% admixed NiClz'6HeO. No
is translucent, emerald green, with refractive indices additional data could be obtained from the
tr 1.589(2),P t.6r7Q), t r.644(2). 2V *87'. T\e Japanese material. Nickel chloride hexahydrate
mineral is monoclinic, space group Czlm lltitn. the was notet subsequently Jambor (1975) on
by
cell a 10.318 (3), b 7.077(2), c 6.623(1) A, p drill core from the Dumont ultramafic body
122.37(2)'. The strongest lines in the X-ray powder near Amos, Qu6bec. The Dumont drill core,
pSttern are 5.59(l_00)(001), 5.49(40)(110).4.82(30) although stored in a dry warehouse when ex-
(rrr), 2.924(40)( l 12), 2.747(30) (220), 2.l 80(30)
amined in 1974, neverthelesswas undergoing
(400), itt agreement with data for synthetic NiCls.
6HzO. G (meas.) is 1.929(5) and G (calc.) is 1.932
in situ disintegration, accompanied in most
with Z-2. The name indicates that the mineral is casesby growth of abundant coalingite. A few
compositionally the nickel analogue of bischofite pieces of the core contained green chlorides
(MgClr.f11r6;. that also had formed during storage. A green
deliquescent spot on one of the cores was
identified by X-ray powder patterns as NiClz'
Sortfi"ilrne 6HrO; subsequent energy-dispersiveanalysis of
the X-ray mount confirmed that nickel and
La nickelbischofite NiCl2.6HrO se trouve dans chlorine are its non-aqueous conitituents.
un sublim6 i sulfates du mont Shirane (Japon); In 1977. the first author examined the
elle est aussi produit d'alt6ration des carottes de products from a supergenealteration halo found
sondage de l'intrusion ultramafique Dumonr the previous year at the Oxford serpentine
(Qu6bec) et mindral supergbne dans la carriBre de
quarry, Llano County, Texas. Associated with
serpentine d'Oxford, comt6 Llano (Texas). Sur les
sp6cimensdu Texas, elle se pr€sente soit en cristaux erythrite, annabergite, zaratite and albrittonite
isol6s de 0.1 e 15 mm de longueur, soit en enduits were several small green crystals and coatings
pulvErulents, accompagn6e de zaratite, 6rfihrite. subsequently shown to be NiClr'6HzO. The
annabergite et albrittonite (CoClr.611p;. tu data reported below pertain to the Texas
nickelbischofite est translucide, d'un vert 6meraude material.
et d'indices de r6fraction o 1.589(2). P 1,617(2), The name nickelbischofite indicates that the
'y 1.644(2) 2V
, 181" ; elle est monoclinique, groupe new mineral is compositionally the nickel anal-
spatial C2/ m, a 10.318(3),b 7 .077(2),c 6.623(l) A, ogue of bischofite, M$lz'6HzO, but the two
p 122.37Q)". Les six raies les plus intenses du cli-
are not isostructural. The new name and the
ch6 de poudre sont les suivantes (intensit6 et symbole
entre parenthtses): 5.59(100X001),5.49(40)(110),
mineral have been approved by the Comnis-
4.82(30)(111), 2.924GA)(lrD, 2.747(30)Q20).
sion on new Minerals and Mineral Narnes,IMA.
2.180(30X400); elles concordent avec les donn6es du The Texas material has been deposited in the
NiClr.611rg synth6tique. (mes.) 1.929(5), (calc.)
D U.S. National Museurn of Natural History
1.932, Z-2, Ir nom indique que le min6ral esr (Smithsonian Institution; No. 144189). The
l'analogue nickelifdre de la bischofite, MgClr. Qudbec material is in the National Mineral
6H2O, comme composition chimique. Collection, Ottawa (NMC 17980).
107
108 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST
OccunnpncB
T-MY DATA
TABLE POI,IOER
I. FOR FROI.I
NICKEI.SISO{OFITE TEXAS
In the Oxford serpentine quarry, nickelbis- rest dneas dcalc l*l rest dmas dcal" &x
chofite occurs in a narrow oxidized zone above 100 5.59 5.59 001 .ll > y). Optic orientation is b : y, Electron microprobe analyses of nickelbis-
XAc = * 8o. chofite are given in Table 2, ^the analyses were
Specific gravity was measuredin toluene on 0F ILAN0
IABIE 2. ANAIYSES I.|1CKEL3ISC110FITE, C0UNTY,TEXAS
a Berman balanceby repeatedmeasurements of w t , anal.
'l
ana1.2 Nlcl 2.5H20
a single-crystal groupweighing18 mg: G(meas.)
is 1.929(5),G(calc. is 1.932with Z = 2. Neither L U
NI 24.2 23.0 *,^
) 0 .t 5 0.21
natural nor synthetic material fluorescesunder Fe 0.04 0.06
ultraviolet light. Co 1.4
0.1 0.1
X-Rev CnystellocnepHy
al 30.0 30.'l 29.83
H"0r 45.6 45,7 45.47
't00.57
_ Weissenberg and precessionphotographsand Total 100.59 I00.00
least-squares
refinement of the X-ray powder *H20 obtalned from total welght loss on ignltlon, mjnus Cl
data (Table 1) using CuKa radiation gave a obtained from the microprobe analyres.
NICKELBISCHOFITE, A NEW NICKEL CHLORIDE HYDRATB 109
conducted at 150 nA specimen current and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
12 kV excitation voltage using Co metal,
chrome spinel, halite and analyzed Cu-Ni-Fe The writers are grateful to A.G. Plant of the
alloy as standards. Water was obtained by Geological Survey of Canada for SEM examina-
weight loss on ignition minus the microprobe- tion of the Dumont nickelbischofite.
determined chlorine content. Corrections were
made with the EMPADR VII program of
Rucklidge& Gasparrini (1969). Tests for fluor- RensnnNcrs
ine were negative.
Cnoor, W.W., III & Mancorrv, L.-A. (1978)l
Albritetonite, a new cobalt chloride hydrate from
DtscusstoN Odord, Llano County, Texas. Amer, Mineral.
63, 4t0-412.
Although the Qu6bec and Texas occurrences Gnorn, P. (1906): Chemische Kristallographie t.
of nickelbischofite differ, both may represent Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig.
similar geochemicalenvironments. The Dumont JAMBoR, J.L. (1975): Secondary minerals in an
intrusion in Qu6bec is a huge, low-grade nickel ultramafic intrusion, Amos area, Quebec' Geol.
prospecq most of its recoverable nickel is Surv. Can. Pap. 76-lA, 261-263.
present as pentlandite, awaruite and minor KurNsrnc, R. (1969): Crystal structure of NiCl.
heazlewoodite. Serpentine in the intrusion con- 6HgO at room temp€rature and 4,2"K by neutron
tains appreciable amounts of chlorine (up to diffraction. l. Chem. P/rys. 50, 4690'4696.
slightly more than 0.9% : Rucklidge 1972,Ruck- MIzuNo, J. (1961): The crystal structure of nickel
lidge & Patterson1977). The presence nickel
of chloride hexahydrate,NiCl, . 6HrO. "/' Phys. Soc.
and chlorine in the serpentinites, the in situ lapan 16, 1574-1580.
disintegration of some of the drill core, and Ruczu.Incr, l.C. (1972): Chlorine in partially ser-
the growth of secondaryminerals on the cores pentinized dunite. Econ. Geol. 67, 38-40.
suggest that some components of the host
& GespesuNr, E.L. (1969): Electron mi-
rocks are unstable under atmospheric conditions
croprobe analytical data reduction: EMPADR
and have provided the elementsto form nickel- Yll. Dep. Geol. Uttiv, Toronto.
bischofite.
Analyses of the Oxford, Texas serpentine & PerrrnsoN, G.C. (1977): The role of
chlorine in serpentinization. Cont, Mineral,
show that it also contains chlorine. The element Petrology 65,39-44.
is usually present in only trace amounts
(0.0lVo), but valuesup to 0,L0VoCl have been Snrue, M. (1957): A new sublimate containing
nickel found in a fumarole of an active volcano.
obtained. Both the nickel and chlorine in nickel-
.I, Sci. Re.r. Inst. 5\' ll-14,
bischofite seem to have been derived by super-
gene alteration of primary and secondary min- SwettsoN, H.E., McMunptr,, H.F,, MoRRIs, M.C.,
erals (nickeline, siegenite,annabergite, zaratite) EveNs, E.H. & PmrrzrrN, B. (1974): Standard
X-ray diffraction powder patterns' Nat. Bur'
by chlorine-rich ground waters. The deliques- Stand. Mon. 25, Sect, ll, 42,
cence and extreme solubility of nickelbischofite
lead to the repeated dissolution and crystalliza-
tion of the mineral to form small single crys- Received October 1978; ret'ised ttrartuscript ac-
tals and a halo of powdery coatings. cepted November 1978,