CMMMech
CMMMech > Mineral > Phosphophyllite

Phosphophyllite mineral

Phosphophyllite is a grandfathered monoclinic zinc-ferrous phosphate mineral, represented in the September 2026 IMA list as Zn2Fe(II)(PO4)2(H2O)4 with historical year 1920. It is a mineral species, distinct from elemental zinc, a zinc commodity and the related minerals hopeite and parahopeite. Hill (1977) refined the structure of a natural Potosi, Bolivia crystal in P21/c using three-dimensional X-ray data, resolving competing earlier structural models. Zinc/phosphate tetrahedral sheets are linked through Fe-bearing octahedra; the Potosi result is not a universal assay of every locality. Dunn and Norberg (1977) partially analyzed eleven Hagendorf and three Potosi specimens, finding variable Mn substitution for Fe in the Hagendorf material and very little Mn in the Potosi material. One borderline Hagendorf Mn:Fe weight ratio of 51:49 was explicitly insufficient, given analytical uncertainty, to establish a separate Mn-dominant species. Their unpublished specimen-by-specimen analytical table was not acquired. These natural-crystal studies support identity and composition variability, without establishing microbial extraction, a recovery yield or industrial deployment. No criticality designation is inherited from zinc, iron or phosphorus.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Phosphophyllite row, PDF page 172: Zn2Fe2+(PO4)2(H2O)4, G, historical year 1920, Germany. Status definitions pages 1-2; G means grandfathered, not a numbered modern approval.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. hill1977: Hill RJ (1977). The crystal structure of phosphophyllite. American Mineralogist 62:812-817. Complete original; specimen and diffraction methods page 812, competing models and refinement pages 812-813, Tables 2-4 and Figure 1 pages 814-816, hydrogen-bond and substitution qualifications pages 815-817. The study uses one Potosi crystal and does not establish a microbial mechanism or bulk-resource composition.
    https://msaweb.org/AmMin/AM62/AM62_812.pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. hill1977_deposit: MSA deposit AM-77-046 for Hill (1977), Table 1: observed and calculated structure factors. Twelve-page archive includes the article and supplement separator; deposit title PDF page 9, diffraction table pages 10-11. Same structure study as hill1977, not an independent experiment; inspected without re-refinement.
    https://msaweb.org/MSA/AmMin/Supplemental_Data/Vol%2062%20p0812%20AM-77-046.pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)
  4. dunn_norberg1977: Dunn PJ and Norberg J (1977). Phosphophyllite, variation in composition. American Mineralogist 62:818. Complete one-page original; fourteen partial electron-microprobe analyses of eleven Hagendorf and three Potosi specimens, with water determined on one Potosi sample by the Penfield method. The 51:49 Mn:Fe value is a weight ratio, not a site-occupancy measurement. Individual analyses were available from the authors on request and were not included in the published note or acquired here.
    https://msaweb.org/AmMin/AM62/AM62_818.pdf (accessed 2026-10-15)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-15T19:32:02Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Created a natural zinc-ferrous phosphate identity from complete primary structure and composition evidence, preserving specimen-level Mn substitution and unavailable individual analyses.

Record source: data/records/phosphophyllite.yaml