American Mineralogist, Volume 95, pages 171–176, 2010

Lapeyreite, Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2·0.75H2O, a new mineral: Its description and crystal
structure
Halil Sarp,1 Radovan ČeRný,2,* Hakki BaBalik,1 MuRat Hatipoğlu,3 and GilbeRt MaRi4
University of Adnan Menderes, Vocational School of Memnune Inci, Karacasu-Aydın, Turkey
Laboratory of Crystallography, University of Geneva, 24, quai Ernest-Ansermet, Geneva, Switzerland
3
University of Dokuz Eylül, Vocational School of Izmir, Buca-Izmir, Turkey
4
Les Bartavelles, Quartier le Brec, 06390 Châteauneuf-Villevieille, France
1

2

aBStract
Lapeyreite, ideally Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2⋅0.75H2O, was found in the old copper mines of Roua
(Alpes-Maritimes, France). It is invariably in intimate association with trippkeite. Other associatedminerals are olivenite, malachite, gilmarite, cornubite, connellite, theoparacelsite, brochantite, cuprite,
native copper, algodonite, and domeykite. Lapeyreite occurs in geodes of cuprite (0.5 mm diameter)as aggregates formed by perfect elongate rectangular crystals (up to 0.2 × 0.05 × 0.01 mm in size),acicular fibrous crystals or powdery masses. The mineral is translucent (transparent in thin fragments),
dark pistachio-green. It has a vitreous to adamantine luster and yellowish green streak. The tenacity
is brittle and the fracture conchoidal. The rectangular crystals are elongate parallel to [010], flattenedon (001), and have a perfect cleavage on {001}, and good cleavage on {100}. All crystals, without
exception, are twinned on the (001) plane. The recognizable crystal forms are {100}, {010}, and {001}.
In transmitted light, the mineral is pistachio-green, with strong pleochroism: X = light yellow-green,Y = pistachio-green, Z = dark pistachio-green; dispersion: r > v, medium. Lapeyreite is biaxial (+),
with nα ~ 1.82, nβ ~ 1.85, nγ ~ 1.90 (for λ = 589 nm). 2Vmeas = 76° (universal stage), 2Vcalc = 77°. The
optical orientation is X ^ c ~ 12°, Y = a, Z = b. The mean chemical composition determined by electron
microprobe is (wt%): CuO 46.49, As2O5 45.82, H2O (from crystal structure analysis) 6.30, total 98.61.
The empirical formula calculated on the basis of nine structural O atoms (excluding molecular water)
is Cu2.96As2.01O6.99(OH)2.01⋅0.77H2O. Lapeyreite is monoclinic, C2/m, a = 19.158(3), b = 2.9361(6), c= 9.193(2) Å, β = 103.26(1)°, V = 503.32(6) Å3, Z = 8/3. The calculated density is 4.385 g/cm3 (basedon the empirical formula). The strongest X-ray powder-diffraction lines are [d(Å) (I) (hkl)]: 7.36 (30)(201), 5.842 (40) (201), 4.476 (35) (002), 3.173 (90) (601), 2.984 (100) (003), 2.883 (30) (602), 2.484(80) (311), 2.396 (40) (112, 801), and 2.337 (35) (800). The crystal structure of lapeyreite was solved
by direct methods (MoKα radiation) and refined on F2 using all 617 observed reflections to R = 0.069.
The structure of lapeyreite is formed by a three-dimensional network of CuO5 square pyramids andAsO4 tetrahedra with a water molecule in structural cavities. This structure shows some similarities
to that of theoparacelsite. The mineral is named in honor of Laurent Lapeyre, an eminent mineralcollector and expert on Roua minerals.
Keywords: Lapeyreite, new mineral, crystal structure, copper arsenate, Roua mines, AlpesMaritimes, France

introduction
Lapeyreite, Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2⋅0.75 H2O, is a new mineral
discovered in samples collected by Laurent Lapeyre, Danielle
Mari, Pierre Rolland (mineral collectors), and Gilbert Mari
(President of the Association of Naturalists of Nice and theAlpes-Maritimes) in the old copper mines of Roua (North andSouth group, districts of Guillaumes and Daluis, respectively),
which are situated in the northwest part of the Alpes-Maritimes
department (France), about 50 km from Nice.
The mineral is named in honor of Laurent Lapeyre (b. 1973),
the mineral collector who found the sample containing the mineral. Both the mineral and its name have been approved by theCommission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classifica* E-mail: Radovan.Cerny@unige.ch0003-004X/10/0001–171$05.00/DOI: 10.2138/am.2010.3225

171

tion (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association(IMA). The holotype specimens are deposited in the Laboratoryof Crystallography, University of Geneva, Switzerland (registration number CR.010) and in the University of Adnan Menderes,
Vocational School of Memnune Inci, Karacasu-Aydın, Turkey(registration number KMY.25). Co-type material is depositedin the University of Dokuz Eylül, Vocational School of Izmir,
Buca-Izmir, Turkey (registration number BM.73).

occuRRence
The new mineral described in the present work occurs in
the Roua copper deposits in the upper part of the Var valley(Daluis gorge) at the western margin of the Barrot Dome in thenortheastern part of the Alpes-Maritimes area (France). The
Dome is characterized by the presence of numerous showings

172

SArp ET AL.: LApEyrEITE, A NEw MINErALof cupriferous ore and consists of a small massif formed by afolded anticline, in which the Permian series is well developed,
and is separated from the Meso-Cenozoic cover by an unconformity. The geology and metallogeny of this Dome have beenstudied by Vinchon (1984) and Mari (1992). The cupriferous
ore occurs in two distinct zones 400 m apart: a northern and asouthern zone situated, respectively, in the districts of Guillaumeand Daluis. The mineralization is hosted by subvertical dolomite
and calcite veinlets containing accessory aragonite, and consistsof native copper, cuprite, domeykite, algodonite, koutekite, andnative silver. The thickness of the veinlets varies from a few
millimeters to a few centimeters. Detailed mineralogical studyof this ore deposit has produced several secondary, rare, andunknown mineral species (Sarp et al. 1994, 1996). The newmineral described here occurs in small geodes of cuprite (0.5mm in diameter) in association with trippkeite (always present),
olivenite, malachite, gilmarite (Sarp and Černý 1999), cornubite,connellite, theoparacelsite (Sarp and Černý 2001), brochantite,native copper, algodonite, and domeykite. In this paragenesis,
the crystallization sequence of theoparacelsite and lapeyreite isprobably as follows: oxidation of native copper produced cuprite;
then, reaction of copper with solutions enriched in arsenous acidproduced trippkeite precipitated on the earlier-formed cuprite.
Subsequent oxidation of arsenous acid produced arsenic acidthat also reacted with copper, yielding crystals of lapeyreite. In
the material studied, olivenite is one of the earliest secondary
minerals to crystallize. Olivenite crystals are sometimes pseudomorphed by theoparacelsite (Sarp and Černý 2001), but neverby lapeyreite, which is a more hydrated phase than is theoparacelsite. These paragenetic relations suggest that theoparacelsite
crystallized before lapeyreite.

appeaRance, pHysical and optical pRopeRties
Lapeyreite occurs as aggregates formed by perfect elongate rectangular crystals up to 0.2 × 0.05 × 0.01 mm in size,
acicular fibrous crystals, and powdery masses. The rectangular
crystals are elongate parallel to [010], flattened on (001). The
crystal forms are {100}, {010}, and {001} (Fig. 1). Twinningwas observed neither macroscopically nor with a standard
binocular microscope. However, an X-ray single-crystal study
demonstrated that all crystals, without exception, are twinned bymirror reflection on (001). Macroscopically, lapeyreite is dark
pistachio-green with a vitreous to adamantine luster. The mineralis translucent in aggregates and transparent in thin fragments.
The streak is yellowish green. Cleavage is perfect on {001} andgood on {100}. Lapeyreite is brittle and has conchoidal fracture.
Mohs hardness could not be measured. The measured density isapproximately 4.3 g/cm3, but could not be determined precisely(the mineral sinks very slowly in a pure Clerici solution witha density of 4.2 g/cm3). The calculated density is 4.385 g/cm3,
based on the empirical chemical formula, and 4.397 g/cm3 basedon the idealized formula. The mineral is soluble in diluted HCl
and does not fluoresce.
Optically, lapeyreite is biaxial positive, with nα ~ 1.82, nβ~ 1.85, nγ ~ 1.90 (for λ = 589 nm). These refractive indices are
not precise and should be considered with caution because themineral is very quickly attacked by Cargille liquids with refractive indices >1.80. 2Vmeas = 76(2)° (universal stage), 2Vcalc ~ 77°.

Optical orientation: X ^ c ~ 12°, Y = a, Z = b. In transmitted light,
the mineral is pistachio-green, with a strong pleochroism: X =light yellow-green, Y = pistachio-green, and Z = dark pistachiogreen; dispersion r > v, medium. The Gladstone-Dale constant
Kc (Mandarino 1981), calculated for the oxide proportions,determined from the electron-microprobe data and the results ofcrystal-structure refinement, is 0.179 and 0.175, respectively. The
value of Kp, calculated using the average index of refraction, is1.857, and the calculated density is 0.195. For the same averageindex of refraction and the measured density, Kp is 0.199. This
low compatibility (1 – Kp/Kc = –0.114) is probably due to thedifficulties associated with measuring the indices of refraction.

cHeMical coMposition
Chemical analyses (10) of lapeyreite were obtained with a
Cameca SX 50 electron microprobe using wavelength-dispersive
spectrometry (wDS), an accelerating voltage of 15 kV, a beam
current of 11 nA, and beam diameter of 10 µm. Qualitative examination by energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) showed only Cu
and As. For quantitative analysis, trippkeite (Cu, As), copper metal(Cu), and arsenic metal (As) were used as standards. Two spots
were analyzed using copper metal and arsenic metal, and eightspots with the trippkeite standard. The latter gave more uniform
analysis totals. The results presented in Table 1 are the averageof all 10 analyses. Due to the insufficiency of material for direct
water determination, the H2O content was estimated by difference.
The presence of H2O was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy(perkin Elmer 1330 Spectrophotometer): absorption bands at
3400, 3260, 2960, 2920, and 2845 cm–1 are consistent with thestretching vibrations of H2O molecules and (OH) groups, and theband at 1630 cm–1 with the bending vibration of H2O molecules(Fig. 2). The presence of H2O in lapeyreite was also confirmedby the crystal-structure solution. with the mean chemical composition and the H2O calculated from structure determination, theempirical formula based on nine structural O atoms (excluding
molecular H2O) is Cu2.96As2.01O6.99(OH)2.01·0.77H2O. The idealized
formula Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2·0.75H2O requires: 47.73 wt% CuO,
45.97 wt% As2O5, 6.30 wt% H2O, total 100 wt%.

FiGuRe 1. SEM photomicrograph of lapeyreite crystals, elongate
along [010] and flattened on (001). The crystal forms are {100},{010}, and {001}. A crystalline crust of small bladed crystals is also
lapeyreite.

SArp ET AL.: LApEyrEITE, A NEw MINErAL173

FiGuRe 2. IR spectrum of lapeyreite in the 3750–1400 cm–1 range.

X-Ray cRystalloGRapHy
powder X-ray diffraction data (Table 2) were obtained usinga Gandolfi camera (114.6 mm diameter, Ni-filtered CuKα). The
relative intensities of the reflections were estimated visually. A
single crystal of lapeyreite 0.085 × 0.045 × 0.015 mm in size
was examined by the precession method (Ni-filtered CuKα) andthe same crystal was measured on a Stoe IPDS-1 diffractometerwith monochromatized MoKα radiation and an imaging plate
detector. The lattice parameters were refined on the basis of2000 reflections with the index ranges –24 < h < 23, –3 < k < 3,
–4 < l < 11, and θmax = 26.93°: a = 19.158(3), b = 2.9361(6), c =9.193(2) Å, β = 103.26(1)°, and V = 503.31(6) Å3. The crystal
is twinned on the (001) plane. The twin matrix is:
10010.229 0

0
0
1

(1)

The reflections belonging to two domains were identified byusing the twin matrix and refıned using the TwIN instructionin the SHELXL software (Sheldrick 1997). The results obtained
from the data for the first domain, which occupies 75% of thecrystal volume, were used in the structure solution and refinement. A total of 2277 reflections were measured, of which 1981
(617 unique) belong to the first domain; Rint = 0.029 was calculated for 1024 non-overlapping reflections (328 unique) of thefirst domain. The structure was solved in space group C2/m bydirect methods wıth the SHELXS program (Sheldrick 1997),
and refined on F2 (without H atoms) using all 617 observedreflections. The refinement converged to R = 0.069, Rw = 0.188,
and Goof = 1.289 with 60 parameters. The largest residuals inthe difference-Fourier map were –1.71 and 2.38 e/Å3. A CIF is
on deposit1.
Diffuse-intensity patterns were obtained at the Swiss-Norwegian Beamlines (SNBL) at the European Synchrotron radiation
Facility (ESrF). Diffraction data were taken at 15 K (controlledwith a Helijet open-flow helium cooler, Oxford Diffraction) using
Deposit item AM-10-002, CIF. Deposit items are available two ways: For a paper
copy contact the Business Office of the Mineralogical Society of America (seeinside front cover of recent issue) for price information. For an electronic copy, visit
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Contents, find the table of contents for the specific volume/issue wanted, and thenclick on the deposit link there.
1

the MAr345 Image plate detector, at a wavelength of 0.71 Åand a crystal-to-detector distance of 120 mm. Diffraction frames
were collected with 1° rotation and a 40 s exposure time.

cRystal stRuctuRe
The refined formula of lapeyreite is CuO 1/3 [AsO 3(OH)]2/3⋅1/4(H2O) with Z = 8. This formula can be converted tothe quasistoichiometric formula Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2⋅0.75H2O bytripling the b parameter (see the discussion of diffuse intensity
below). Atomic coordinates, and equivalent isotropic displacement parameters are given in Table 3, and selected interatomic
distances are listed in Table 4.
The crystal structure of lapeyreite (Fig. 3) consists of two Cu
and two As sites. Both Cu atoms are coordinated by 5 O atoms
in a square-pyramid arrangement, which is typical for Cu2+. The
four O atoms in the base of the pyramid are within the bonddistance range 1.93–1.96 Å. The bond distance to the apical O
Table 1.

Electron microprobe analyses (wt%) of lapeyreite

Constituent Mean wt% Range of 10 analyses Std. dev. Idealized formula
CuO
46.49
45.23–49.26
1.2
47.73
As2O5
45.82
42.70–47.47
1.1
45.97
H2O*
7.69
6.30
Total
100
100
Note: The idealized formula is Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2⋅0.75H2O.
* By difference.

Table 2.

X-ray powder diffraction data for lapeyreite indexed according to the structural model from the single-crystal study

Iobs
<5
30
40
<<5
35

dobs
9.35
7.36
5.842
4.658
4.476

90
<5
100
30
<5
<5
10
80
40

3.173
3.114
2.984
2.883
2.729
2.671
2.618
2.484
2.396

dcalc
9.324
7.353
5.823
4.662
4.474
4.451

hkl
200
201
201
400
002
202

3.170
601
3.108
600
2.983
003
2.881
602
2.731
111
2.669
203
2.616
311
2.480
311
2.395
112
2.394
801
35
2.337
2.331
800
5
2.090
2.087
313
2.083
803
Note: Intensities estimated visually.

Iobs
5
10
5

dobs
2.054
1.930
1.792

10

1.737

15

1.695

10
<5

1.636
1.610

10

1.555

5
15

1.531
1.494

dcalc
2.052
1.930
1.791
1.790
1.742
1.734

hkl
604
712
713
005
114
514

1.693
1.692
1.634
1.609
1.609
1.556
1.556
1.530
1.493
1.491

910
912
314
911
805
315
405
713
912
006

174

SArp ET AL.: LApEyrEITE, A NEw MINErAL

atom is much longer, 2.45 Å for Cu1 and 2.46 Å for Cu2. The
sixth O atom (Ow7), which would complete the square pyramid
to an octahedron, is at a distance of 2.71 Å for Cu1 and 3.07
Å for Cu2. Thus, the Cu atoms are located close to the base of
the pyramid, indicating that their true coordination is possibly
Table 3.

Atom positions and displacement parameters for lapeyreite

Atom
x
y
z
Ueq (Å2)
Occ.
Cu1
0.4273(2)00.1752(3)0.0225(7)Cu2
0.6720(2)00.4773(3)0.0203(7)As10.0826(2)00.1689(4)0.031(1)2/3
As2
0.2258(2)00.8049(4)0.032(1)2/3
O10.2155(9)00.609(2)0.024(3)O2
0.123(1)00.357(2)0.036(4)O3
0.9937(8)00.172(2)0.026(4)O4
0.1388(8)00.824(2)0.030(4)O5
0.761(3)00.873(6)0.18(2)
O6
0.604(3)00.109(7)0.23(3)OW7
0.480(3)00.472(6)0.07(2)
1/2
Note: The equivalent isotropic atomic displacement parameters are expressed
as Ueq = (1/3)ΣiΣjUijai*aj*ai.aj.

Table 4.
Cu1-O4
Cu1-O4
Cu1-O3
Cu1-O3
Cu1-O6
As1-O6
As1-O6
As1-O3As1-O2

Selected interatomic distances (Å) in lapeyreite
1.94(1)1.94(1)1.95(1)1.95(1)2.54(1)1.65(3)1.65(3)
1.71(1)1.72(2)Cu2-O2Cu2-O2Cu2-O1
Cu2-O1
Cu2-O1As2-O5
As2-O5
As2-O4As2-O11.95(1)1.95(1)1.97(1)1.97(1)2.46(1)1.68(3)
1.68(3)
1.72(1)1.76(2)

FiGuRe 3. Crystal structure of lapeyreite viewed along b. The CuO5
square pyramids in light gray, AsO4 tetrahedra in dark gray, Cu in darkgray, and As in light gray. Disordered oxygen position Ow7 of the watermolecule shown as light spheres.
Table 5.
Cu1
Cu2

square planar. Both As atoms are coordinated by four O atoms
in a tetrahedral configuration with As-O distances within therange 1.65–1.76 Å.
The structure of lapeyreite belongs to the group of M = M – T
framework structures according to the classification of Eby and
Hawthorne (1993). The structure is formed by a three-dimensional network of CuO5 square pyramids and AsO4 tetrahedra witha water molecule in a structural cavity (Fig. 3). This structure
is similar to the structure of theoparacelsite, in that it contains
chains of CuO5 square pyramids and AsO4 tetrahedra runningalong the shortest cell axis (the b axis whose length is similar inboth minerals). However, interconnectivity between the chainsis different in the two minerals. The c axis of lapeyreite is approximately two times longer than the c axis of theoparacelsite. It
displays a similar stacking pattern of the chains in one direction
perpendicular to c with a double periodicity in lapeyreite. There
are two symmetrically independent chains of CuO5 polyhedra inlapeyreite, and there is only one type of chain in theoparacelsite.
The reason for this is probably the presence of the H2O moleculein the structure of lapeyreite, which results in completely different
patterns of chain stacking along a in the two minerals.
The water molecule is the only difference in the chemicalcompositions of lapeyreite and theoparacelsite. This resembles
the relationship between the Cu polysilicate CuSiO3 and its
hydrated counterpart, the mineral dioptase, Cu6Si6O18·6H2O, or
between the Cu polygermanate CuGeO3 and synthetic germanate
dioptase, Cu6Ge6O18·6H2O. The compounds CuSiO3 and CuGeO3,
known as spin-peierls phases, have been recently identified as
isostructural with theoparacelsite (Otto and wolfram 2002),
whose formula can be written also as CuAs2/3H2/3O3, where Si4+
and Ge4+ are nominally replaced by {As2/3H2/3}4+ to maintaincharge balance. The crystal structures of dioptase (Heide et al.
1955) and dioptase-type Cu6Ge6O18·6H2O (Brandt and Otto 1997)
are, however, completely different from that of lapeyreite, thehydrated counterpart of theoparacelsite.
Because H atoms were not detected in the difference-Fouriermap, the concept of bond valences (Brown and Kang Kun wu
1976) was used to locate hydrogen bonds. The data of Brese andO’Keeffe (1991) were used to calculate the bond valences for all
non-H atoms (Table 5). The bond-valence sum for O7 is zero,
indicating an isolated H2O molecule. The sums for all other O
atoms range from 1.69 to 1.95, thus indicating that some of them
may act as proton acceptors in H···O bonds. The bond-valencesums for the cations are in good agreement with their corresponding ionic charges. Based on the charge-balance considerations
and on the dependence of H···O bond valence on O···O distance

Bond valence (v.u.) table for lapeyreite
O1

O2

2× 0.46 ×2
0.12

2× 0.48 ×2

O3
2× 0.48 ×2

O4
2× 0.49 ×2

O5

O6
0.12

OW7

2/3As1
1.14 ×0.667
1.17 ×0.667
2× 1.37 ×1.334
2/3As2
1.02 ×0.667
1.14 ×0.667
2× 1.27 ×1.334
ΣC v
1.72
1.72
1.74
1.74
1.69
1.95
1/3H
1.0 ×0.333
1/3H
0.1 ×0.333
0.9 ×0.333
H
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.9H
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.1 ×0.125
0.9
Σcorr
1.75
1.75
1.77
1.77
2.06
2.24
1.80
Notes: The bond valences for H atoms were fixed to 1. Left and right multipliers refer to equivalent bonds for the cations and O atoms, respectively.

ΣA v
2.06
2.00
5.05
4.70
1
1
1
1

SArp ET AL.: LApEyrEITE, A NEw MINErAL(assuming stretched O-H···O bond angles) according to Brown
and Altermatt (1985), we propose possible hydrogen bonds. The
results are given in Table 5. Two H atoms compensate for theobserved charge deficiency in the partly occupied As sites as intheoparacelsite, and transform one third of O atoms O5 and O6
in AsO4 tetrahedra to OH groups. Two other H atoms interconnect water molecules in the cavity with O atoms O1, O2, O3,
and O4. The presence of the OH groups and water molecule inthe crystal structure is consistent with the infrared spectroscopy
data. A possible local configuration of the hydrogen bonds isshown in Figure 4. However, as the H atoms of two OH groupscompensate for the missing positive charge at the partially occupied As sites, it is possible that the protons are located inside
the empty oxygen tetrahedra. The exact location of the H atoms
in the structure remains to be ascertained.

175

The crystal structure of lapeyreite is disordered with respect
to the occupancy of the As sites, as is the structure of theoparacelsite. The occupational disorder induces positional disorderin other atomic sites as reflected in relatively high values ofdisplacement parameters for most of the atoms, which decreases
the precision of the bond-valence calculations. The X-ray diffraction pattern of theoparacelsite shows a weak diffuse intensity in planes perpendicular to the b axis, and repeating with aperiodicity of 1/3 b*. Lapeyreite shows exactly the same typeof diffuse intensity. These planes can be recognized as weaklines in the reciprocal space plane (hk0) shown in Figures 5
and 6, and one such plane (h 5/3 l) is shown in Figure 7. The
observed diffuse intensity probably stems from a local order inthe chains of AsO4 tetrahedra in both minerals. A fully ordered
threefold superstructure would give a stoichiometric formula

FiGuRe 4. Possible hydrogen bonds in lapeyreite: (a) two hydrogen bonds between OH groups in AsO4 tetrahedra, and (b) two hydrogen bonds
between water molecules in the cavity and neighboring O atoms.

FiGuRe 5. Rotation photograph around b showing two planes ofdiffuse intensity (marked by arrows) as continuous lines between thecenter of the film and the plane (h1l).

F iGuRe 6. planes of diffuse intensity (marked by arrows)
perpendicular to the b axis, repeating with a periodicity of 1/3 b* inlapeyreite.

176

SArp ET AL.: LApEyrEITE, A NEw MINErALFiGuRe 7. The most intense diffuse plane (h 5/3 l) showing thearrangement of the diffuse intensity within the plane.

with Z = 8 for lapeyreite. The diffuse intensity is currently being modeled in both minerals.

Brese, N.E. and O’Keeffe, M. (1991) Bond valence parameters for solids. Acta
Crystallographica, B47, 192–197.
Brown, I.D. and Altermatt, D. (1985) Bond valence parameters obtained from asystematic analysis of the inorganic crystal structure database. Acta Crystallographica, B41, 244–247.
Brown, I.D. and wu, K.K. (1976) Empirical parameters for calculating cationoxygen bond valences. Acta Crystallographica, B32, 1957–1959.
Eby, r.K. and Hawthorne, F.C. (1993) Structural relations in copper oxysalt minerals. I. Structural hierarchy. Acta Crystallographica, B49, 28–56.
Heide, H.G., Boll-Dornberger, K., Thilo, E., and Thilo, E.M. (1955) Die struktur
des dioptas, Cu6Si6O18·6H2O. Acta Crystallographica, 8, 425–430.
Mandarino, J.A. (1981) The Gladstone-Dale relationship: part IV: The compatibility
concept and its application. Canadian Mineralogist, 19, 441–450.
Mari, G. (1992) Les Anciennes Mines de Cuivre du Dôme de Barrot (AlpesMaritimes), 112 p. Edition Serre, Nice.
Otto, H.H. and wolfram, H. (2002) Isotypism and low-dimensional physicalproperties of CuAs2/3H1/3O3 (theoparacelsite), the spin-Peierls phase CuGeO3
and CuSiO3. Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, 217, 431–434.
Sarp, H. and Černý, r. (1999) Gilmarite, Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3, a new mineral:
Its description and crystal structure. European Journal of Mineralogy, 11,
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acknowledGMents
The authors thank Jean-pierre Laugier, from Centre Commun de Microscopie
Appliquée de l’Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, for assistance with the SEM
photomicrographs. The help of Dmitry Chernyshov (SNBL, ESrF Grenoble) withthe collection of diffuse intensity images is highly appreciated. The help of referees
to improve the readability of manuscript is highly appreciated.

ReFeRences cited
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Manuscript received February 23, 2009
Manuscript accepted august 20, 2009
Manuscript handled by anton chakhMouradian