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MILOTAITE, PdSbSe, A NEW PALLADIUM MINERAL SPECIES FROM PEDBOICE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Werner H. Paar^1,, Dan Topa¹, Emil Makovicky² and Franz J. Culetto³

¹ Department of Geography, Geology and Mineralogy, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, A–5020 Salzburg, Austria
² Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Østervoldgade 10, DK–1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
³ KELAG-Kärntner Elektrizitäts Aktiengesellschaft, Arnulfplatz 2, A–9021 Klagenfurt, Austria

E-mail address: werner.paar{at}sbg.ac.at

Milotaite, chemically PdSbSe, is a new palladium mineral species discovered in a low-temperature selenium-rich assemblage at Pedboice, Czech Republic. It was observed in only one polished section, where it occurs as rare subhedral grains not exceeding 25 µm in size. It is embedded in eucairite and tiemannite, and randomly intergrown with bornite and digenite. The other associated phases are chrisstanleyite, fischesserite, native gold, silver-rich hakite, tyrrellite, clausthalite, chaméanite and uraninite. The gangue is calcite. The synthetic equivalent of PdSbSe is megascopically silvery grey in color, has a metallic luster and a grey streak. It is brittle with an uneven fracture; no cleavage or parting can be observed. Values of VHN₁₀₀ (12 indentations on three grains of synthetic PdSbSe) range between 420 and 514, mean 465 kg/mm², which corresponds to a Mohs hardness of approximately 4. In plane-polarized light, milotaite is white, isotropic and opaque, and lacks internal reflections. Reflectance data of both milotaite and its synthetic equivalent are provided. The average result of five electron-microprobe analyses of milotaite (two grains) is Pd 34.17, Cu 0.78, Ag 0.35, Sb 38.03, Se 26.38, total 99.71 wt.%, corresponding to Pd_0.98Cu_0.04Ag_0.01Sb_0.95Se_1.02; synthetic PdSbSe (17 analyses on 4 grains) gave Pd 34.46, Sb 38.86, Se 26.60, total 99.91 wt.%, corresponding to Pd_0.99Sb_0.97Se_1.04 (total atoms = 3). The synthetic PdSbSe has a cubic structure with a 6.3181(5) Å, V 252.20 (5) ų, space group P2₁3, and Z = 4. The calculated density is 8.09 g/cm³. The crystal structure was solved using synthetic PdSbSe. The strongest eight lines in the calculated powder-diffraction pattern derived from the results of the crystal-structure refinement [d in Å(I)(hkl)] are: 2.825(100)(201), 1.905(98)(311), 2.579(81)(211), 3.159(53)(200), 2.233(32)(220), 1.752(27)(320), 1.688(25)(312) and 1.378(18)(412). The mineral is named after Milota Makovicky, University of Copenhagen, for her outstanding investigations of sulfide and sulfarsenide systems with platinum-group elements.

Keywords: milotaite, new mineral species, platinum-group mineral, Pd–Sb selenide, electron-microprobe data, reflectance data, synthetic PdSbSe, X-ray-diffraction data, crystal structure, Pedboice, Czech Republic.

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