Belakovskiite


Belakovskiite is a very rare uranium mineral with the formula Na743. It is interesting in being a natural uranyl salt with hydrosulfate anion, a feature shared with meisserite. Other chemically related minerals include fermiite, oppenheimerite, natrozippeite and plášilite. Most of these uranyl sulfate minerals was originally found in the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, US. The mineral is named after Russian mineralogist Dmitry Ilych Belakovskiy.

Association

Belakovskiite is associated with other sulfate minerals: meisserite, blödite, ferrinatrite, kröhnkite, and metavoltine. This association is found as efflorescences on a sandstone associated with uranium mineralization.

Crystal structure

The framework of belakovskiite crystal structure is a hexavalent cluster with composition 4. Such clusters are connected via Na-O and hydrogen bonds.