Lecontite

A valid IMA mineral species - grandfathered

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Photos of Lecontite (5)

Lecontite GallerySearch Photos of Lecontite

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Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

Lecontite

Comayagua Department, Honduras

Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

Lecontite

Comayagua Department, Honduras

Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

Lecontite, etc.

Minera Escondida tailings pond, La Negra, Antofagasta, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, Chile

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About LecontiteHide

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John Lawrence LeConte

Formula:

(NH₄,K)NaSO₄ · 2H₂O

Colour:

Colourless; colourless in transmitted light

Lustre:

Vitreous

Hardness:

2 - 2½

Specific Gravity:

1.745

Crystal System:

Orthorhombic

Name:

Named in honor of John Lawrence LeConte (13 May 1825, New York City, New York, USA - 15 November 1883, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), an entomologist who provided the first specimens for study. He was responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime.

Type Locality:

ⓘ Las Piedras Cave, La Paz Department, Honduras

This page provides mineralogical data about Lecontite.

Unique IdentifiersHide

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Mindat ID:

2364

Long-form identifier:

mindat:1:1:2364:7

GUID
(UUID V4):

5478bb0f-b428-42a0-b382-90f06ccd2a95

Classification of LecontiteHide

Mineral SymbolsHide

Physical Properties of LecontiteHide

Optical Data of LecontiteHide

Type:

Biaxial (-)

RI values:

n_α = 1.440 n_β = 1.454 n_γ = 1.455

2V:

Measured: 40° to 43°, Calculated: 28°

Max Birefringence:

δ = 0.015

Image shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness)
and does not take into account mineral colouration.

Surface Relief:

Moderate

Dispersion:

dispersion not observed

Optical Extinction:

X = c; Y = a; Z = b.

Chemical Properties of LecontiteHide

Crystallography of LecontiteHide

Crystal StructureHide

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Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure

ID	Species	Reference	Link	Year	Locality	Pressure (GPa)	Temp (K)
0009882	Lecontite	Arzt S, Glazer A M (1994) The optical activity and absolute optical chirality of NaNH4SO4*2H2O Acta Crystallographica B50 425-431		1994	synthetic	0	293

CIF Raw Data - click here to closedata_global _chemical_name_mineral 'Lecontite' loop_ _publ_author_name 'Arzt S' 'Glazer A M' _journal_name_full 'Acta Crystallographica, Section B' _journal_volume 50 _journal_year 1994 _journal_page_first 425 _journal_page_last 431 _publ_section_title ; The optical activity and absolute optical chirality of NaNH4SO4*2H2O ; _database_code_amcsd 0009882 _chemical_compound_source 'Synthetic' _chemical_formula_sum 'N H8 Na S O6' _cell_length_a 6.253 _cell_length_b 8.228 _cell_length_c 12.856 _cell_angle_alpha 90 _cell_angle_beta 90 _cell_angle_gamma 90 _cell_volume 661.437 _exptl_crystal_density_diffrn 1.738 _symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'P 21 21 21' loop_ _space_group_symop_operation_xyz 'x,y,z' '-x,1/2+y,1/2-z' '1/2+x,1/2-y,-z' '1/2-x,-y,1/2+z' loop_ _atom_site_label _atom_site_fract_x _atom_site_fract_y _atom_site_fract_z _atom_site_U_iso_or_equiv N 0.36960 0.17290 0.85530 0.03800 H5 0.85000 0.38000 0.18900 0.10000 H6 0.78000 0.32900 0.10100 0.10000 H7 0.94000 0.24000 0.13600 0.10000 H8 0.75000 0.26000 0.17100 0.10000 Na 0.91120 0.26520 0.48480 0.02800 S 0.37290 0.08410 0.12830 0.02370 O1 0.18840 0.06740 0.19900 0.04300 O2 0.57320 0.06520 0.18820 0.04600 O3 0.36740 0.24530 0.08050 0.04900 O4 0.13990 0.04020 0.54680 0.03000 O5 0.68960 0.21180 0.63520 0.03400 O6 0.65900 0.07910 0.40400 0.03500 H1 0.78900 0.88900 0.16000 0.04500 H2 0.85000 0.72900 0.17200 0.04500 H3 0.39200 0.60000 0.14200 0.04500 H4 0.38000 0.48600 0.08000 0.04500 loop_ _atom_site_aniso_label _atom_site_aniso_U_11 _atom_site_aniso_U_22 _atom_site_aniso_U_33 _atom_site_aniso_U_12 _atom_site_aniso_U_13 _atom_site_aniso_U_23 N 0.04000 0.04400 0.03100 0.00200 -0.00200 -0.00300 Na 0.02290 0.03100 0.02900 0.00250 0.00200 -0.00030 S 0.02970 0.01990 0.02150 0.00080 0.00070 -0.00310 O1 0.04200 0.05000 0.03700 -0.00500 0.01400 -0.00500 O2 0.04100 0.05100 0.03800 0.00600 -0.01600 -0.01800 O3 0.08100 0.02100 0.04200 0.00000 0.00000 0.00100 O4 0.03500 0.02600 0.03100 -0.00100 0.00900 0.01200 O5 0.03800 0.03500 0.02800 0.00300 -0.00300 -0.00400 O6 0.05500 0.02400 0.03100 -0.00200 -0.01000 0.00100

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

Geological EnvironmentHide

Type Occurrence of LecontiteHide

Other Language Names for LecontiteHide

Common AssociatesHide

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat GroupingHide

Other InformationHide

Internet Links for LecontiteHide

References for LecontiteHide

Reference List:

Year ⬇Author Title Publisher

Taylor, W.J. (1858) Lecontite, a new mineral. American Journal of Science and Arts: 76: 273-274.

Taylor, W.J. (1858) Lecontite, a new mineral. American Journal of Science and Arts: 76: 273-274.

Taylor, W.J. (1859) Mineralogical notes. Lecontite. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1858: 172-176.

Dawson, H.M. (1918) The ternary system—sodium sulphate, ammonium sulphate, and water. The utilisation of nitre cake for the production of ammonium sulphate. Journal of the Chemical Society of London, Transactions: 113: 675-688.

Larsen, E.S. (1921) The Microscopic Determination of the Nonopaque Minerals, First edition, USGS Bulletin 679: 99.

Palache, Charles, Berman, Harry, Frondel, Clifford (1951) The System of Mineralogy (7th ed.) Vol. 2 - Halides, Nitrates, Borates, Carbonates, Sulfates, Phosphates, Arsenates, Tungstates, Molybdates, Ect. John Wiley and Sons, New York.pp.438-439

Faust, R.J., Bloss, F.D. (1963) X-ray study of lecontite. American Mineralogist: 48: 180-188.

Corazza, E., Sabelli, C., Giuseppetti, G. (1967) The crystal structure of lecontite, NaNH4SO4·2H2O. Acta Crystallographica: 22: 683-687.

Arzt, S., Glazer, A.M. (1994) The optical activity and absolute optical chirality of NaNH4SO4·2H2O. Acta Crystallographica: B50: 425-431.

Kloprogge, J.T., Broekmans, M., Duong, L.V., Martens, W.N., Hickey, L., Frost, R.L. (2006) Low temperature synthesis and characterisation of lecontite, (NH4)Na(SO4)·2H20. Journal of materials science: 41(11): 3535-3539.

Eckhardt, T., Wagner, C., Imming, P., Seidel, R.W. (2020) Re-refinement of sodium ammonium sulfate dihydrate at 170 K. IUCrJ: 5: x201275.

Localities for LecontiteHide

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This map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the symbol to view information about a locality. The symbol next to localities in the list can be used to jump to that position on the map.

Locality ListHide

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- This locality has map coordinates listed. - This locality has estimated coordinates. ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence. ? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality. - Good crystals or important locality for species. - World class for species or very significant. (TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties). Struck out - Mineral was erroneously reported from this locality. Faded * - Never found at this locality but inferred to have existed at some point in the past (e.g. from pseudomorphs).

All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.

Chile
Antofagasta Antofagasta Province Antofagasta La Negra ⓘ Minera Escondida tailings pond	e-rocks.com (2022) https://e-rocks.com/blogs/1/chilean-blues-update-find-coronel-manuel-rodriguez-mine
Mejillones Mejillones peninsula ⓘ Coronel Manuel Rodríguez mine	www.mindat.org (n.d.) https://www.mindat.org/mesg-105-464001.html e-rocks.com (2022) https://e-rocks.com/blogs/1/chilean-blues-update-find-coronel-manuel-rodriguez-mine
El Loa Province Calama Chuquicamata District ⓘ Chuquicamata Mine	James A. Bauer Collection
France
Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Lens ⓘ Avion	Naze-Nancy Masalehdani, M., Mees, F., Dubois, M., Coquinot, Y., Potdevin, J.-L., Fialin, M. & Blanc-Valleron, M.-M. (2009): Condensate minerals from a burning coal-waste heap in Avion, Northern France. Can. Mineral. 47, 573-591.
Honduras (TL)
La Paz Department ⓘ Las Piedras Cave (TL)	Taylor, W.J. (1858) Lecontite, a new mineral. American Journal of Science and Arts: 76: 273-274. Palache, C., Berman, H., & Frondel, C. (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II: 439 American Mineralogist (1963): 48: 180. J.W. Anthony, R.A. Bideaux, K.W. Bladh, M.C. Nichols: Handbook of Mineralogy, Vol. V (2003).
Sweden
Stockholm County Stockholm ⓘ Vasa Museum	The Sulfur Problem. Proceedings 8th ICOM-CC WO AM Conference Stockholm 11-15 June 2001 Jalilehvand, F., Sandstrom, M., Persson, I., Gelius, U., & Frank, P. (2001). Acidity and Salt Precipitation on the Vasa
USA
California Imperial County Salton Sea Mullet Island ⓘ F1 fumarole field	Adams, P., & Lynch, D. (2014). A mineralogical inventory of geothermal features southeast of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California. Trough to trough: The Colorado River and the Salton Sea (Reynolds, R, 39-43.
ⓘ F2 fumarole field	Adams, P., & Lynch, D. (2014). A mineralogical inventory of geothermal features southeast of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California. Trough to trough: The Colorado River and the Salton Sea (Reynolds, R, 39-43.
Nevada Washoe County ⓘ Reno	Castor, Stephen B., Ferdock, Gregory C. (2004) Minerals of Nevada. Special Publication 31. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology