Mineralogical Magazine, June 2014, Vol. 78(3), pp. 639–649

Belakovskiite, Na7(UO2)(SO4)4(SO3OH)(H2O)3, a new
uranyl sulfate mineral from the Blue Lizard mine, San JuanCounty, Utah, USA
A. R. KAMPF1,*, J. PLÁŠIL2, A. V. KASATKIN3 AND J. MARTY4
1

Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los
Angeles, CA 90007, USA
2
Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i., Na Slovance 1999/2, 18221 Prague 8, Czech Republic3
V/O "Almazjuvelirexport", Ostozhenka Street, 22, Block 1, 119034 Moscow, Russia
45199 East Silver Oak Road, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA[Received 15 December 2013; Accepted 28 January 2014; Associate Editor: S. Krivovichev]
ABSTRACTThe new mineral belakovskiite (IMA2013-075), Na7(UO2)(SO4)4(SO3OH)(H2O)3, was found in theBlue Lizard mine, Red Canyon, White Canyon district, San Juan County, Utah, USA, where it occurs
as a secondary alteration phase in association with blödite, ferrinatrite, kröhnkite, meisserite andmetavoltine. Crystals of belakovskiite are very pale yellowish-green hair-like ﬁbres up to 2 mm longand usually no more than a few mm in diameter. The ﬁbres are elongated on [100] and slightly ﬂattenedon {021}. Crystals are transparent with a vitreous lustre. The mineral has a white streak and a probable
Mohs hardness of ~2. Fibres are ﬂexible and elastic, with brittle failure and irregular fracture. No
cleavage was observed. The mineral is readily soluble in cold H2O. The calculated density is
2.953 g cm 3. Optically, belakovskiite is biaxial (+) with a = 1.500(1), b = 1.511(1) and g = 1.523(1)(measured in white light). The measured 2V is 87.1(6)º and the calculated 2V is 88º. The mineral isnon-pleochroic. The partially determined optical orientation is X & a. Electron-microprobe analysis
provided Na2O 21.67, UO3 30.48, SO3 40.86, H2O 6.45 (structure), total 99.46 wt.% yielding theempirical formula Na6.83(U1.04O2)(SO4)4(S0.99O3OH)(H2O)3 based on 25 O a.p.f.u. Belakovskiite is
triclinic, P1̄, with a = 5.4581(3), b = 11.3288(6), c = 18.4163(13) Å, a = 104.786(7)º, b = 90.092(6)º,g = 96.767(7)º, V = 1092.76(11) Å3 and Z = 2. The eight strongest X-ray powder diffraction lines are[dobs Å(I)(hkl)]: 8.96(35)(002), 8.46(29)(011), 5.19(100)(1̄01,101,1̄10), 4.66(58)(013,1̄02,1̄1̄0,110),
3.568(37)(120,023,005,03̄3), 3.057(59)(01̄6,11̄5,1̄31), 2.930(27)(multiple) and 1.8320(29)(multiple).
The structure, reﬁned to R1 = 5.39% for 3163 Fo > 4sF reﬂections, contains [(UO2)(SO4)4(H2O)]6
polyhedral clusters connected via an extensive network of Na O bonds and H bonds involving eight
Na sites, three other H2O sites and an SO3OH (hydrosulfate) group. The 3-D framework, thus deﬁned,
is unique among known uranyl sulfate structures. The mineral is named for Dmitry Ilych Belakovskiy,
a prominent Russian mineralogist and Curator of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum.
K EY WORDS : belakovskiite, new mineral, uranyl sulfate, hydrosulfate, crystal structure, Blue Lizard mine,Utah, USA.
Introduction* E-mail: akampf@nhm.org
DOI: 10.1180/minmag.2014.078.3.12# 2014 The Mineralogical Society

URANYL SULFATE minerals are found in most U
deposits world-wide. They generally form by
hydration-oxidation weathering of primary U
minerals, mainly uraninite, by acidic solutions

A. R. KAMPF ET AL.

derived from the decomposition of associatedsulﬁdes such as pyrite, marcasite and chalcopyrite(Finch and Murakami, 1999; Krivovichev andPlášil, 2013). Our mineralogical investigations of
the Blue Lizard mine over the last three years
have revealed a remarkable secondary assemblageof uranyl sulfates, the majority of which are new
to science. Two of them, meisserite (Plášil et al.,2013; IMA2013-039) and bluelizardite (Plášil etal., 2014; IMA2013-062) were recently describedby our team; a third one, belakovskiite, isdescribed herein. In addition to these, sevenother new uranyl sulfates from this mine are
currently under study by our group. The discovery
of such a wealth of new uranyl sulfates at a single
mine is unprecedented. At least as many havebeen described from the classic Jáchymov deposit(Ondruš et al., 2003; Tvrdý and Plášil, 2010);
however, they have been described from several
mines and over a lengthy time period. The factthat seven of the ten new phases from the Blue
Lizard mine contain only Na as the additional
cation and only one contains no essential Na issimilarly remarkable. Prior to the discovery of the
Na-rich uranyl sulfate assemblage at the Blue
Lizard mine, natrozippeite was the only known
sodium uranyl sulfate.
The mineral is named for Dmitry Ilych
Belakovskiy (born 1957), a prominent Russianmineralogist and Curator of the Fersman
Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of
Science, Moscow, Russia, since 1989. His
research has included the descriptions of morethan 40 new minerals, among them holfertite, asecondary U mineral from the Thomas Range in
Utah (Belakovskiy et al., 2006). It seems
particularly appropriate that belakovskiite occurs
in close association with meisserite, which isnamed in honour of Nicolas Meisser, the curatorof another prominent European museum, theGeological Museum in Lausanne. Both Dmitry
and Nicolas focus much of their efforts towards
the preservation of rare mineral species in theircollections. These two curators also represent
their respective countries on the IMA
Commission on Museums.
The new mineral and the name were approvedby the Commission on New Minerals,
Nomenclature and Classiﬁcation of theInternational Mineralogical Association(IMA2013-075). The description is based on two
cotype specimens. One cotype specimen, deposited in the collections of the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles County, catalogue

number 64055, is also one of the cotypes formeisserite. A crystal from this specimen was used
for the structure determination and optical study.
The second cotype specimen is housed in thecollections of the Fersman Mineralogical Museumof the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow,
Russia, registration number 4410/1 and it is also a
cotype for meisserite. Crystals from that specimen
were used for the electron-microprobe analysis.
Occurrence

640

Belakovskiite was found underground in the Blue
Lizard mine, Red Canyon, White Canyon district,
San Juan County, Utah, USA (37º33’26’’N
110º17’44’’W) by one of the authors (JM).
Thaden et al. (1964) provided the most complete
description of the mine and its geological setting
and Chenoweth (1993) provided a more up-todate report on the geology of the district. The
mine was ﬁrst claimed in 1943 and produced its
ﬁrst U ore in 1951. An extensive exploration
program, begun in 1954, led to the discovery ofhigh-grade U ore. The mine has been inactive
since 1978.
The deposit is located in a channel cut into the
Moenkopi Formation (Lower Triassic) and ﬁlledwith sediments of the Shinarump Member of the
Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic). The
Shinarump Member consists of medium- tocoarse-grained sandstone. Ore minerals (especially uraninite) and sulﬁdes (pyrite, chalcopyrite,bornite and covellite) were deposited as replacements of wood and other organic material and as
disseminations in the enclosing sandstone. The
main ore body was interpreted by Thaden et al.
(1964) as being related to ponding of ore solutions
in permeable sandstone between less permeablesiltstone and claystone. Since the mine closed in
1978, oxidation of primary ores in the relatively
humid underground environment has produced avariety of secondary minerals, mainly sulfates, as
efﬂorescent crusts on the surfaces of mine walls.
The vast majority of the secondary minerals
contain essential Na; however, there is nothing
described in geological reports of the area tosuggest a source for the Na enrichment in thesecondary assemblage.
The Blue Lizard mine is the type locality forthe recently described new minerals manganoblödite (Kasatkin et al., 2013; IMA2012-029),
cob altob lö dite (Kasatkin et al., 2 013 ;IMA2012-059), meisserite (Plášil et al. 2013;
IMA2013-039) and bluelizardite (Plášil et al.

BELAKOVSKIITE, A NEW URANYL SULFATE

2014; IMA2013-062) and several other new
uranyl sulfates and another new sulfate (withouturanyl) are currently under study. These phases
occur on tunnel walls as efﬂorescent crusts, whichhave resulted from post-mining oxidation ofprimary ores (uraninite, pyrite and chalcopyrite
disseminated in lenses of organic matter) in thehumid underground environment.
The matrix of the belakovskiite specimens is
sandstone consisting of irregular quartz grains.
Secondary minerals found in direct association
with belakovskiite include blödite, ferrinatrite,
kröhnkite, meisserite and metavoltine. Other
secondary minerals in the general assemblage
include atacamite, boyleite, brochantite, chalcanthite, cobaltoblödite, copiapite, coquimbite,cyanotrichite, d’ansite-(Mn), dickite, gerhardtite,gordaite, gypsum, halite, johannite, manganoblödite, natrochalcite, natrozippeite, pickeringite,
pseudojohannite, rhomboclase, römerite, sideronatrite and tamarugite. Other minerals foundassociated with the host sandstone include baryte,
calcite, feldspar and clays.

and elastic, with brittle failure and irregular
fracture. No cleavage was observed. The mineralis readily soluble in cold H2O and, because it isalso soluble in available aqueous density liquids,
its density could not be measured. The calculated
densities are 2.953 g cm 3 based on the empiricalformula and 2.936 g cm 3 based on the ideal
formula.
Optically, belakovskiite is biaxial (+) with a =1.500(1), b = 1.511(1) and g = 1.523(1)(measured in white light). The measured 2V
based on extinction data using EXCALIBR(Gunter et al., 2004) is 87.1(6)º and the calculated
2V is 88º. Dispersion could not be observed. The
mineral is non-pleochroic. The partially determined optical orientation is X & a.
Composition

Physical and optical properties
Crystals of belakovskiite (Fig. 1) are very paleyellowish-green hair-like ﬁbres up to 2 mm longand usually no more than a few mm in diameter.
The ﬁbres are elongated on [100], slightly
ﬂattened on {021} and exhibit several {0kl}forms, none of which could be measured. Crystals
are transparent with a vitreous lustre. The mineral
has a white streak. The Mohs hardness could not
be tested, but is probably ~2. Fibres are ﬂexible

FIG. 1. Fibrous belakovskiite with light green meisserite
crystals on blödite; ﬁeld of view 2 mm.

641

The chemical composition of belakovskiite wasdetermined using a CamScan4D scanning electron
microscope (SEM) equipped with an Oxford Link
ISIS energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS).
An operating voltage of 20 kV was used with abeam current of 1 nA and a 1 mm beam diameter.
The EDS mode on the SEM was chosen for the
analysis instead of the wavelength-dispersive
spectrometer (WDS) mode on the electron microprobe because of the extreme thinness of theﬁbres and instability of belakovskiite under theelectron beam caused by the high contents of both
Na and H2O. Attempts to use the WDS mode
were unsuccessful because of signiﬁcant decomposition of the mineral after several seconds underthe electron beam with a current of 15 nA. The
H2O content was not determined directly becauseof the scarcity of pure material. Instead, the H2O
content was calculated by stoichiometry on thebasis of 25 O a.p.f.u. (atoms per formula unit), as
indicated by the crystal-structure determination.
No other elements with atomic numbers higher
than 8 were observed. Analytical data are given in
Table 1.
The empirical formula of belakovskiite, calculated as the mean of nine representative spot
analyses (Table 1), is Na6.83U1.04S4.99O25.00H7.00,
or Na 6.83 (U 1.04 O 2 )(SO 4 ) 4 (S 0.99 O 3 OH)(H 2 O) 3
(based on 25 O a.p.f.u.). The simpliﬁed formulais Na 7 (UO 2 )(SO 4 ) 4 (SO 3 OH)(H 2 O) 3 which
requires Na2O 22.45, UO3 29.60, SO3 41.43 andH2O 6.53, total 100 wt.%. The Gladstone-Dalecompatibility index 1 (KP/KC) is 0.023 for theempirical formula, in the range of superior
compatibility (Mandarino, 2007).

A. R. KAMPF ET AL.

TABLE 1. Chemical analyses for belakovskiite.
Constituent

Wt.%

Range

SD

Probe standard

Na2O
UO3
SO3
H2O*
Total

21.67
30.48
40.86
6.45
99.46

20.78 22.60
27.83 33.54
36.95 43.50

0.57
1.67
1.89

chkalovite
syn. UO2
syn. ZnS* Calculated by stoichiometry on the basis of 25 O a.p.f.u.

X-ray crystallography and structure
reﬁnement
Both powder and single-crystal X-ray studies
were carried out using a Rigaku R-Axis Rapid II
curved imaging plate microdiffractometer, withmonochromatized MoKa radiation. For the
powder-diffraction study, a Gandolﬁ-like motion
on the j and o axes was used to randomize thesample and observed d spacings and intensities
were derived by proﬁle ﬁtting using JADE 2010
software (Materials Data, Inc.). The powder data
presented in Table 2 show good agreement withthe pattern calculated from the structure determination. Unit-cell parameters reﬁned from thepowder data using JADE 2010 with wholepattern ﬁtting are a = 5.454(4), b = 11.308(4), c= 18.340(4) Å, a = 104.76(2), b = 89.83(3), g =96.77(2)º and V = 1085.7(9) Å3.

The Rigaku CrystalClear software package wasused for processing structure data, including theapplication of an empirical multi-scan absorption
correction using ABSCOR (Higashi, 2001). The
structure was solved by direct methods using
SIR2004 (Burla et al., 2005). SHELXL-2013(Sheldrick, 2008) was used for the reﬁnement of
the structure. Data collection and reﬁnement
details are given in Table 3, atom coordinatesand displacement parameters in Table 4, selectedbond distances in Table 5 and a bond-valence
analysis in Table 6.
Description and discussion of the structure
The structure of belakovskiite is shown in Fig. 2.
The U site is surrounded by seven O atom sites
forming a squat pentagonal bipyramid. This is a

FIG. 2. The crystal structure of belakovskiite viewed down [100]. The unit cell is shown by dashed lines. Na O
bonds are shown as sticks. Hydrogen bonds are shown as thin lines.

642

TABLE 2. Powder X-ray data for belakovskiite.*
Iobs

dobs

dcalc

Icalc

hkl

11

17.91

11

10.76

35
29

8.96
8.46

17.7968
10.8714
10.5646
8.89848.3691
7.9624
6.15375.8822
5.61795.43575.41715.23075.13545.1041
5.02724.86114.79374.72184.6965
4.6371
4.62794.60944.56084.54814.44924.35884.33594.26554.0956
4.06764.05293.98483.93613.92003.79013.7442
3.7082
3.67363.62203.57573.5594
3.52153.50263.4952
3.4272
3.40623.38393.3041
3.26803.24853.2306
3.1515
3.11993.09003.06903.05073.03993.0302

20
6
8
55
44
7
5
3
15
4
3
46
28
26
3
14
5
9
11
11
16
2
2
9
7
3
10
2
6
6
3
4
16
3
2
10
10
6
13
5
18
13
2
4
2
14
3
6
12
8
6
12
10
15
7
13
23
9

0 0 1
0 1 0
0 1̄ 10 0 2
0 1 1
0 1̄ 20 1 2
0 1̄ 30 2̄ 10 2 0
1 0 0
1̄ 0 11 0 1
1̄ 1 01 1̄ 10 2 1
1̄ 1 10 1 3
1̄ 0 21̄ 1̄ 11 1 0
1 1̄ 21 0 2
0 1̄ 40 0 4
1̄ 1̄ 21 1 1
1̄ 1 2
1̄ 2 01̄ 0 3
1 1̄ 3
1 2̄ 21 0 3
1̄ 1̄ 30 1 4
0 3̄ 11̄ 1 30 1̄ 5
1 2 0
0 2 3
0 0 5
0 3̄ 31̄ 2 2
1̄ 0 41 1 3
0 2̄ 5
1 0 4
1 2̄ 4
1 3̄ 1
0 3̄ 4
1 3̄ 20 1 5
1̄ 2̄ 40 3 2
0 1̄ 6
1 1̄ 51̄ 3 11̄ 1̄ 5

12

100

58

{

5.62

5.19

4.66

{

{

8

4.36

{

4

4.07

{

17

3.937

10

3.722

37

3.568

10

3.395

23

3.272

59

3.057

{

{
{
{

Iobs

27

7

17

17

16

11

8

8

4
7

5

19

dobs

dcalc

Icalc

hkl

2.94622.94392.94112.930
2.93062.92122.91122.89742.85542.82672.812
2.80902.78792.72672.71792.707
2.70862.69102.68642.67872.67032.64112.63862.635
2.62182.61532.59892.57552.57002.56622.563
2.55792.55202.54242.51862.516
2.51122.48672.47012.44212.37642.36092.35432.351
2.34552.34392.33612.32882.32352.326
2.31282.30952.29862.279
2.27292.2301
2.168 { 2.1764
2.1706
2.16602.16482.1231
2.121
2.10982.09442.09232.07492.07362.074
2.06972.06182.0502

6
6
2
3
7
6
4
4
3
5
7
8
3
13
4
3
2
2
3
4
4
5
2
5
8
6
4
2
3
4
4
2
3
5
2
3
5
6
2
5
2
2
2
2
4
3
2
2
2
3
3
4
5
3
2
4
5
2
2
6

0 3̄ 5
1 2̄ 50 2̄ 61 0 5
1̄ 3̄ 11̄ 3̄ 2
1 3̄ 41 2 3
1̄ 2̄ 5
0 4̄ 2
1̄ 2 4
1 3 1
0 4 0
2 0 0
2̄ 0 11̄ 3̄ 40 2 5
1 3̄ 5
0 4̄ 41̄ 0 6
1 2̄ 62̄ 0 2
1̄ 3 31 2 4
1 4̄ 3
1 0 6
1̄ 4 02̄ 2 00 0 7
2̄ 1̄ 20 3 4
1̄ 2 51̄ 1 6
1 3̄ 6
1 3 3
0 2 6
1 1 6
0 1 7
1 4̄ 52̄ 2̄ 11̄ 3̄ 6
0 4̄ 6
2 3̄ 22̄ 1̄ 40 1̄ 82 1 3
1̄ 2 61̄ 4 3
1 5̄ 2
1̄ 3 52̄ 3 22̄ 1 5
1 1̄ 80 5 1
0 4 4
2̄ 2̄ 52 4̄ 22 3̄ 52 2 3
1 4̄ 7

{
{

{
{

{
{

{

{
{

{

{

* Only calculated lines with intensities 52 are shown.

Iobs

dobs

12 2.000{8

1.9567{

16 1.9096{

29 1.8320{

14 1.7517{

12 1.7090
10 1.6836

12 1.6321
7

1.5964{{{{

11 1.5702{

12 1.5144

{

dcalc

Icalc

hkl

2.03492.03042.02792.02062.01312.0063
1.99581.9924
1.97551.96071.9553
1.9511
1.92601.9162
1.91411.90551.9022
1.89511.8904
1.88781.88501.8726
1.86301.85281.8512
1.8457
1.8385
1.8364
1.83401.83311.82511.81611.8041
1.78111.75131.74341.7256
1.72151.71361.7102
1.7082
1.6962
1.6794
1.67381.65901.6542
1.64291.6383
1.63141.60551.59991.5911
1.5757
1.57171.5564
1.5431
1.53271.51701.5013
1.4993

3
2
2
2
2
2
2
4
2
7
2
4
3
3
2
5
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
5
3
4
2
2
4
2
7
2
2
2
2
2
6
4
2
5
2
2
2
2
3
2
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
2
3
2

1 3̄ 82̄ 1̄ 61̄ 4 41 3 5
1̄ 2 71 4 3
1̄ 5̄ 2
2 4̄ 41̄ 1 8
0 3̄ 92 3̄ 61̄ 5 22̄ 3̄ 51̄ 1̄ 91 2 7
1̄ 5̄ 5
1 1̄ 90 2 8
0 5 3
2 2̄ 72̄ 0 7
0 6̄ 30 1 9
1 5̄ 7
0 6̄ 12̄ 4̄ 2
1 6̄ 2
2 4̄ 62̄ 4̄ 30 1̄ 102̄ 1 7
1 6̄ 4
0 5̄ 80 5 4
3̄ 1̄ 1
1 2̄ 10
1 6̄ 60 2 9
2 2 6
3̄ 1̄ 33 3̄ 11̄ 6̄ 43̄ 3 10 5 5
3̄ 2̄ 23 2 0
2̄ 5 32̄ 1̄ 92 6̄ 3
1̄ 6 3
1 2̄ 112̄ 5̄ 50 2 10
1 7̄ 13̄ 3̄ 2
3̄ 1 6
1 7̄ 61̄ 4 82 6̄ 72̄ 5 5

A. R. KAMPF ET AL.

TABLE 3. Data collection and structure reﬁnement details for belakovskiite.
Diffractometer
X-ray radiation/power
Temperature
Structural FormulaSpace group
Unit-cell dimensions

Rigaku R-Axis Rapid II
MoKa (l = 0.71075 Å)/50 kV, 40 mA
298(2) K
Na7(UO2)(SO4)4(SO3OH)(H2O)3
P1̄
a = 5.4581(3) Å
b = 11.3288(6) Å
c = 18.4163(13) Å
a = 104.786(7)ºb = 90.092(6)ºg = 96.767(7) º1092.76(11) Å3
2
2.936 g cm 3
8.161 mm 1912
30061065
3.31 25.02º
5 4 h 4 6, 13 4 k 4 13, 21 4 l 4 21
16,376/3854; Rint = 0.093
3163
99.5%
0.960 and 0.193
Full-matrix least-squares on F2
358
1.083
R1 = 0.0539, wR2 = 0.1084
R1 = 0.0718, wR2 = 0.1162+2.21/ 2.63 e·A 3

VZ
Density (for above formula)
Absorption coefficientF(000)
Crystal size (mm)y range
Index ranges
Reflections collected/unique
Reflections with Fo > 4s(F)Completeness to y = 25.02º
Max. and min. transmission
Refinement method
Parameters refined
GoF
Final R indices [Fo > 4s(F)]R indices (all data)
Largest diff. peak/hole* Rint = S|F2o F2o(mean)|/S[F2o]. GoF = S = {S[w(F2o F2c )2]/(n p)}1/2.
R1 = S||Fo| |Fc||/S|Fo|.
wR2 = {S[w(F2o F2c )2]/S[w(F2o)2]}1/2; w = 1/[s2(F2o) + (aP)2 + bP] where a is 0, b is 27.0359 and
P is [2F2c + Max(F2o,0)]/3.

typical coordination for U6+ in which the two
short apical bonds of the bipyramid (1.728 and1.760Å in belakovskiite) constitute the UO2+
2
uranyl group. Four of the ﬁve equatorial verticesof the bipyramid link to four distinct SO4
tetrahedra and the ﬁfth equatorial vertex is an
H2O group, yielding a [(UO2)(SO4)4(H2O)]6
polyhedral cluster. Bond-valence analysis indicates that a ﬁfth sulfate tetrahedron, which is notpart of the cluster, is an SO3OH (hydrosulfate)group. The [(UO2)(SO4)4(H2O)]6 clusters do notlink directly to one another, but rather areconnected via an extensive network of Na O
bonds and H bonds involving eight Na sites, threeother H2O sites and the SO3OH group. One Nasite (Na8) and two H2O sites (OW25 and OW26),
in relatively close proximity, reﬁned to approximately half occupancy and they were assigned
644

exactly half occupancy in the ﬁnal structure
reﬁnement. Bond lengths and bond-valencecalculations indicate that OW25 is coordinatedto Na8, while OW26 takes the place of both Na8
and OW25 when those sites are not occupied.
Like the other newly described uranyl sulfatesfrom the Blue Lizard mine, meisserite andbluelizardite and several others still under study,
belakovskiite possesses a complicated 3-D framework structure; however, its structure is uniqueamong known uranyl sulfates. The[(UO 2 )(SO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O)] 6 cluster is somewhat
similar, regarding the U:S stoichiometry, to theclusters found in the synthetic Na-uranyl sulfates(Burns and Hayden, 2002; Hayden and Burns,
2002a,b); however, these contain no H2O as an
equatorial ligand and contain a bidentately linked
SO4 tetrahedron.

645

0.72620(9)0.7486(5)0.6798(6)0.7264(5)0.6868(5)0.2053(6)0.00000.1971(9)0.2080(9)0.7221(9)0.2182(9)0.7158(10)0.2966(10)0.428(3)0.9311(16)0.2278(16)0.4989(15)0.8013(16)0.5768(18)0.5566(16)0.9488(15)0.6150(18)0.4892(15)0.8985(14)0.6946(16)0.8415(14)0.7148(15)0.9237(15)0.5115(15)0.5758(15)0.9743(17)0.3921(17)0.1757(17)0.3015(19)0.0256(17)0.4308(17)0.8171(19)0.2701(16)0.083(6)0.208(4)0.13824(4)0.1927(3)0.2541(3)0.8436(3)0.4643(3)0.6464(3)0.50000.9789(5)0.6594(4)0.7243(4)0.3752(5)0.5679(5)0.3584(5)0.9629(14)0.1177(8)0.6904(8)0.1294(8)0.2181(7)0.1880(9)0.3650(7)0.2849(9)0.1730(8)0.8426(7)0.7866(7)0.7782(7)0.9725(7)0.5072(8)0.4797(8)0.5331(7)0.3306(7)0.6458(10)0.5905(8)0.5936(9)0.7862(8)0.2089(8)0.0673(8)0.9655(8)0.3674(8)0.022(3)0.996(2)y/b0.76828(3)0.97103(17)0.59870(17)0.81019(16)0.81836(16)0.61504(18)0.00000.9114(3)0.8272(3)0.9555(3)0.7094(3)0.6773(3)0.5166(3)0.5835(9)0.9862(5)0.9720(4)0.9689(5)0.8963(4)0.5242(5)0.6248(5)0.5989(5)0.6497(5)0.8456(5)0.8476(5)0.7296(5)0.8144(4)0.8998(4)0.7831(5)0.7901(5)0.7955(5)0.5781(5)0.5664(5)0.6793(5)0.6472(6)0.7595(5)0.7731(6)0.6618(5)0.9376(5)0.5546(17)0.5701(17)z/c* Na8, OW25 and OW26 sites are half occupied.

U
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
Na1
Na2
Na3
Na4
Na5
Na6
Na7
Na8*
O1
O2
O3
O4
O5
O6
O7
O8
O9
O10
O11
O12
O13
O14
O15
O16
O17
O18
O19
OH20
O21
O22
OW23
OW24
OW25*
OW26*

x/a
0.02036(15)0.0190(6)0.0221(7)0.0177(6)0.0168(6)0.0240(7)0.0292(16)0.0305(12)0.0293(12)0.0275(11)0.0298(12)0.0342(13)0.0371(13)0.078(5)0.028(2)0.028(2)0.031(2)0.026(2)0.038(2)0.028(2)0.034(2)0.034(2)0.027(2)0.0218(19)0.026(2)0.0191(18)0.0246(19)0.031(2)0.0235(19)0.0211(19)0.043(3)0.035(2)0.036(2)0.041(2)0.031(2)0.036(2)0.037(2)0.033(2)0.072(8)0.052(8)Ueq0.0252(3)0.0187(15)0.0262(17)0.0191(15)0.0168(14)0.0203(16)0.031(4)0.029(3)0.025(3)0.032(3)0.029(3)0.041(3)0.039(3)0.106(14)0.033(5)0.039(5)0.017(4)0.046(6)0.051(6)0.038(5)0.015(5)0.054(6)0.022(5)0.019(4)0.035(5)0.021(4)0.033(5)0.020(5)0.028(5)0.025(5)0.032(6)0.032(5)0.040(6)0.051(7)0.041(6)0.039(6)0.067(7)0.027(5)0.07(2)0.009(11)U110.0147(2)0.0143(14)0.0210(16)0.0131(14)0.0120(14)0.0240(17)0.034(4)0.024(3)0.021(3)0.020(3)0.026(3)0.026(3)0.045(3)0.050(9)0.035(5)0.021(5)0.029(5)0.016(4)0.038(6)0.018(5)0.049(6)0.027(5)0.019(5)0.013(4)0.017(4)0.008(4)0.025(5)0.025(5)0.012(4)0.007(4)0.061(7)0.031(5)0.037(6)0.027(5)0.019(5)0.017(5)0.016(5)0.037(6)0.07(2)0.028(12)U220.0209(3)0.0228(15)0.0189(15)0.0206(15)0.0204(15)0.0281(17)0.027(4)0.033(3)0.038(3)0.028(3)0.029(3)0.033(3)0.028(3)0.070(10)0.020(5)0.015(4)0.042(6)0.012(4)0.017(5)0.028(5)0.035(5)0.022(5)0.039(5)0.037(5)0.021(4)0.026(4)0.011(4)0.042(6)0.032(5)0.035(5)0.036(6)0.047(6)0.037(6)0.045(6)0.032(5)0.053(6)0.028(5)0.037(5)0.076(19)0.12(2)

U33
0.00376(18)0.0027(12)0.0026(13)0.0036(12)0.0027(12)0.0077(14)0.010(3)0.004(2)0.002(2)0.002(2)0.000(2)0.003(2)0.011(3)0.001(8)0.005(4)0.008(4)0.001(4)0.001(3)0.006(4)0.005(4)0.009(5)0.006(4)0.007(4)0.012(4)0.005(4)0.001(3)0.002(4)0.005(4)0.008(4)0.011(4)0.011(5)0.014(5)0.021(5)0.010(5)0.006(4)0.016(4)0.002(4)0.014(5)0.022(16)0.015(13)U23TABLE 4. Atom coordinates and displacement parameters (Å2) for belakovskiite.

0.00275(18)0.0009(12)0.0017(12)0.0023(12)0.0024(12)0.0036(13)0.005(3)0.003(2)0.002(2)0.003(2)0.005(2)0.007(2)0.008(2)0.013(9)0.005(4)0.002(4)0.002(4)0.010(4)0.010(4)0.000(4)0.002(4)0.015(4)0.008(4)0.004(4)0.004(4)0.005(3)0.002(4)0.002(4)0.001(4)0.010(4)0.014(4)0.017(4)0.001(4)0.007(5)0.002(4)0.014(5)0.010(5)0.009(4)0.002(17)0.011(12)U130.00340(18)0.0010(12)0.0073(13)0.0024(12)0.0005(11)0.0027(13)0.015(3)0.004(2)0.006(2)0.003(2)0.002(2)0.002(2)0.005(3)0.010(9)0.020(4)0.002(4)0.002(4)0.001(4)0.005(5)0.010(4)0.002(4)0.008(4)0.002(4)0.002(3)0.004(4)0.001(3)0.001(4)0.007(4)0.004(4)0.006(3)0.009(5)0.018(4)0.004(5)0.002(5)0.002(4)0.014(4)0.009(5)0.003(4)0.012(17)0.010(9)U12BELAKOVSKIITE, A NEW URANYL SULFATE

1.728(9)1.760(9)2.317(8)2.353(7)2.395(8)2.406(8)2.489(8)2.287

2.323(9)2.435(8)2.530(9)2.429

2.338(10)2.411(10)2.433(10)2.435(10)2.435(9)2.686(10)2.706(10)
2.492

U O22
U O21
U O4
U O16
U O12
U O8
U OW23<U O>

Na1 OW24 (’2)
Na1 O13 (’2)
Na1 O2 (’2)
<Na1 O>

Na5 O14
Na5 O6
Na5 O7
Na5 O21
Na5 O15
Na5 O16
Na5 O19<Na5 O>2.316(10)2.347(9)2.457(10)2.491(11)2.577(12)2.708(11)2.779(11)2.525

2.270(10)2.432(9)2.455(9)2.475(10)2.576(9)2.617(9)2.471

Na2 O3
Na2 O1Na2 O9
Na2 O1Na2 O10
Na2 O12<Na2 O>Na6 O6
Na6 O11
Na6 O15
Na6 O19
Na6 O17
Na6 O14
Na6 O18<Na6 O>1.452(8)1.457(8)1.459(9)1.497(9)
1.466

S1 O1
S1 O2
S1 O3
S1 O4
<S1 O>

Na7 O17
Na7 O18
Na7 O6
Na7 O18
Na7 O7
Na7 O5<Na7 O>

Na3 O15
Na3 O10
Na3 O14
Na3 O9
Na3 O2Na3 O19<Na3 O>

S2 O5
S2 O6
S2 O7
S2 O8
<S2 O>

2.272(10)2.405(11)2.426(10)2.544(11)2.622(11)2.630(11)2.483

2.308(9)2.317(9)2.371(10)2.380(10)2.599(10)2.635(11)2.435

1.461(9)1.468(9)1.469(9)1.488(10)1.472

Na8 OW25
Na8 O5
Na8 O8Na8 OW23
Na8 OH20<Na8 O>

Na4 O3
Na4 O13
Na4 O10
Na4 OW24
Na4 O1
Na4 O2
Na4 O2<Na4 O>

S3 O9
S3 O10S3 O11S3 O12<S3 O>

2.18(4)2.262(17)2.477(17)2.56(2)2.596(19)2.415

2.333(10)2.406(9)2.436(10)2.452(10)2.481(10)2.709(10)2.857(10)2.525

1.451(9)1.463(8)1.479(8)1.503(8)1.474

TABLE 5. Selected bond distances (Å) for belakovskiite.

Hydrogen bonds
OH20 O11
OW23 O11
OW23 OW25
OW23 OW26
OW24 O4OW24 O13
OW25 OW26
OW25 O7
OW26 O5OW26 O8

S4 O13S4 O14S4 O15
S4 O16<S4 O>

2.650(13)2.744(13)2.62(3)2.77(3)2.881(12)2.964(12)2.74(5)3.06(3)2.74(2)2.92(3)1.456(8)1.460(9)1.474(8)1.516(8)1.477

S5 O17S5 O18
S5 O19S5 OH20<S5 O>

1.430(9)1.451(9)1.456(9)1.568(10)
1.476

2.03

1.92

1.57

2.02

1.56

1.41

2.17

0.16

1.87

0.10
62?

1.55

2.07

1.52

1.82

0.04
62?

1.52

0.10

0.16

O7

0.07
62?
2.08

1.44

0.07
62?

0.50

O8

1.94

1.60

0.19

0.15

O9

2.04

1.55

0.16

0.22

0.11

O10

2.09

0.22
0.19

1.48

0.20

O11

2.01

1.39

0.10

0.52

O12

2.17

0.12

1.57

0.21
0.08

0.19

O13

1.89

1.56

0.17

0.16
62?

O14

2.03

1.50

0.16
0.15

0.22

O15

1.98

1.34

0.08

0.56

O16

O18

2.05

1.69

1.95

1.60

0.06
0.17
0.25
0.12

0.11

O17

1.88

1.57

0.08
0.14

0.09

O19

1.99

1.16
0.78

0.05
62?

OH20

1.91

0.16

1.75

O21

1.86

1.86

O22

2.08

0.78

0.81

0.06
62?

0.43

2.09

0.84
0.88

0.15

0.22
62?

2.12

0.80

0.92

1.95

0.86

0.80

0.10
62?

0.24
0.20
6? 6?

0.16
62?

OW23 OW24 OW25 OW26

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00
1.00

1.00

6.13
6.04
6.01
5.97
6.02
1.00
1.00

0.94

0.89

1.02
0.96

0.96

1.01

0.91

1.00

6.22

Sc

* S6+ O bond strength from Brown and Altermatt (1985); Na+ O bond strength from Wood and Palenik (1999); U6+ O bond strength from Burns et al. (1997); H-bond strengths
based on O_O bond lengths from Brown and Altermatt (1985).

Sa

H26b

H26a

H25b

H25a

H24a
H24b

H23b

1.59

Na8

S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
H20
H23a

0.16

O6

0.13
62?

O5

0.09

0.21

0.25

0.60

O4

Na7

0.10
0.08
0.05

O3

0.17
0.22

0.14

0.16
0.14

0.12
62?

O2

Na5
Na6

Na4

Na3

Na2

Na1

U

O1

TABLE 6. Bond-valence analysis for belakovskiite. Values are expressed in valence units.*

A. R. KAMPF ET AL.

In the structure of belakovskiite, the SO3OH
group links to the [(UO2)(SO4)4(H2O)]6 clusters
via relatively weak Na O bonds only. The only
other known uranyl mineral structure containing a
protonated sulfate tetrahedron is that of meisserite(Plášil et al., 2013) and in this structure, as well,
the SO3OH group is linked through relatively
weak Na O bonds to the uranyl sulfate clusters.
Protonated sulfate (hydrosulfate) tetrahedra arequite rare in mineral structures and are indicativeof formation at low pH, as has been noted to be
the case for the secondary uranyl sulfate mineral
assemblages in the Blue Lizard mine.
Acknowledgements
Reviewers Stuart J. Mills and Igor V. Pekov arethanked for their constructive comments on the
manuscript. Ken Krahulec of the Utah Geological
Survey is thanked for providing information about
the genesis of the U deposits in the area. A portionof this study was funded by the John Jago
Trelawney Endowment to the Mineral Sciences
Department of the Natural History Museum of
Los Angeles County. JP acknowledges funding
through the post-doctoral grant project 13-31276P
of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.
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