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Cuprosklodowskite mineral

Cuprosklodowskite is the copper uranyl silicate hydrate mineral Cu(UO2)2(SiO3OH)2(H2O)4·2H2O in the September 2026 IMA list, equivalent in bulk composition to Cu[(UO2)(SiO3OH)]2·6H2O. Its triclinic P-1 structure is distinct from magnesium-bearing sklodowskite, and the mineral is not elemental copper or uranium. Status G denotes a grandfathered species; 1933 is the original-description year, not a numbered approval accession. Plášil's 2018 study provides original natural-crystal diffraction and hydrogen-position refinement despite the article's Review label. The diffraction crystal came from the National Museum in Prague collection; the article does not establish that it is the Musunoi specimen photographed separately in Figure 2d. Section 3.1 and Figure 4a describe copper's distorted sixfold coordination and the two longer bonds to uranyl oxygen, differing from magnesium's linkage to silicate oxygen in sklodowskite. The original supplementary CIF and Table 2 agree on the unit-cell parameters and R1 = 3.75% for 1033 reflections above I > 3 sigma(I). The CIF retains incomplete publication-template fields and different temperature entries (cell measurement 295(11) K; diffraction ambient 287 K), so a single exact experimental temperature is not imposed here. This record establishes mineral identity and specimen-specific structure; it does not assert a dissolution, microbial extraction, recovery, criticality or industrial-deployment claim.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Cuprosklodowskite row on PDF page 53, status/year definitions on page 1. Official list and homepage freshly acquired; mineral row visually checked: Cu(UO2)2(SiO3OH)2(H2O)4·2H2O, G, 1933.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. plasil2018: Plášil J (2018). Mineralogy, Crystallography and Structural Complexity of Natural Uranyl Silicates. Minerals 8(12):551. DOI 10.3390/min8120551. Complete final 15-page article, original publisher XML and supplementary cuprosklodowskite_final.cif re-inspected. Primary new measurements: section 2.1, Table 2; structural interpretation: section 3.1, Figure 4a. Table 2 and CIF give a = 6.6549(5), b = 7.0573(4), c = 9.2344(8) angstrom, alpha = 70.429(6), beta = 70.945(7), gamma = 89.850(5) degrees. The CIF contains the refined atomic coordinates, hydrogen treatment and two-component twin model; these support the reported model, not independently repeated measurements. The mineral photograph is Figure 2d despite the prose's Figure 1d cross-reference.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/min8120551 (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. plasil2018_cif: Original supplementary archive for Plášil 2018, Minerals 8:551: minerals-08-00551-s001.zip, cuprosklodowskite_final.cif. Chemical formula sum Cu1 H14 O18 Si2 U2, P-1, Z = 1; mixed hydrogen treatment and twin-component fractions 0.813(6)/0.187(6). Header, cell, refinement, atomic coordinates and geometry inspected. Supplement belongs to the same study; incomplete journal-template fields do not establish a different publication. Individual reflection intensities were not independently re-refined.
    https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/minerals/minerals-08-00551/article_deploy/minerals-08-00551-s001.zip (accessed 2026-10-16)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-16T02:41:23.121416Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Added natural-crystal mineral identity from current authority and original refinement plus CIF, preserving specimen provenance and excluding unsupported extraction or criticality claims.

Record source: data/records/cuprosklodowskite.yaml