CMMMech
CMMMech > Mineral > Rutherfordine

Rutherfordine mineral

Rutherfordine is the uranyl carbonate mineral with the ideal formula (UO2)(CO3), distinct from elemental uranium, aqueous uranyl-carbonate complexes and uranium commodities. The September 2026 IMA list gives approved status A and the special procedure token 1962 s.p.; it is not listed as grandfathered. A natural Shinkolobwe crystal was refined in orthorhombic Imm2 in 1999, with neutral uranyl-carbonate sheets. That specimen's carbonate-sheet orientation is not assigned automatically to synthetic products. The structural paper discusses possible OH/H2O variability and absorption-correction limitations, so the ideal formula is not proof that every preparation is chemically identical. No criticality designation, microbial mechanism or industrial deployment is inferred.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

Laboratory preparation of a synthetic rutherfordine analogue

other

Exposure of an amorphous UO3-water preparation to CO2 produced a microcrystalline precipitate identified as a synthetic rutherfordine analogue. Powder diffraction showed sharp profiles without reported impurity-phase peaks; electron imaging and EDX supported sample homogeneity, and thermogravimetric mass loss was reported as consistent with UO2CO3. These characterize the prepared solid but do not establish complete uranium conversion, a recovery yield or an industrial precipitation process.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
The 2005 experiment placed 0.400 g amorphous UO3 in 20 mL deionized water. Amorphous starting material was checked by powder XRD. The beaker was placed in a glove box and purged with CO2 at a reported 70 kPa for 24 hours; the precipitate was filtered and dried at room temperature. The synthesis temperature, pressure reference basis, CO2 flow, solution pH, product mass and independent synthesis-batch replicates were not specified. Room temperature describes drying and is not assigned as the reaction temperature. This synthetic solid was separate from the natural crystal studied in 1999.
Curated Evidence Points:
Page 1286, Synthesis of uranyl carbonates, gives the UO3 loading, water volume, CO2 pressure, duration and filtration/drying steps. The analytical sections report CuKalpha powder diffraction on approximately 4 mg, electron-microprobe examination of an approximately 40 mg aliquot and thermogravimetry on approximately 25 mg heated at 10 K/min from 298 to 923 K. Those analytical aliquots are not independent synthesis replicates.
The authors report no impurity peaks and agreement of mass loss with UO2CO3, but do not display the preparation's powder patterns or TG curve, a numerical mass loss or a product mass balance. EDX homogeneity is not a complete quantitative elemental assay. The separate hot oxide-melt calorimetry is not aqueous dissolution or uranium recovery; its derived thermodynamic values are not adopted here.
Context_only Source: finch1999
The natural Shinkolobwe crystal's Imm2 refinement and Figures 1-3 support uranyl-carbonate sheet identity, not the phase purity or polytype of the 2005 synthetic batch. Pages 932-934 discuss possible hydroxyl substitution or water in other preparations; the appendix shows strong absorption-correction sensitivity of refined U-O distances. Neither structural argument establishes a microbial pathway.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Rutherfordine row, PDF page 189; status and special-procedure definitions page 1. Fresh official PDF and row inspected.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. finch1999: Finch RJ, Cooper MA, Hawthorne FC, Ewing RC (1999). Refinement of the crystal structure of rutherfordine. Canadian Mineralogist 37:929-938. Complete ten-page published PDF acquired from RRUFF; specimen and refinement pages 930-931, Figures 1-3, OH discussion pages 932-934, and absorption-correction appendix pages 936-938 inspected. Deposited structure factors were not acquired.
    https://www.rruff.net/doclib/cm/vol37/CM37_929.pdf (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. kubatko2005: Kubatko KA, Helean KB, Navrotsky A, Burns PC (2005). Thermodynamics of uranyl minerals: Enthalpies of formation of rutherfordine, UO2CO3, andersonite, Na2CaUO2(CO3)3(H2O)5, and grimselite, K3NaUO2(CO3)3H2O. American Mineralogist 90:1284-1290. DOI 10.2138/am.2005.1821. Complete seven-page published PDF acquired from RRUFF; synthesis and analytical methods page 1286, calorimetry and limitations pages 1286-1289, Tables 1-4 and Figures 1-2 inspected.
    https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2005.1821 (accessed 2026-10-16)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-16T08:06:50Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Added verified rutherfordine identity and scoped primary laboratory evidence with natural/synthetic distinctions and source limitations.

Record source: data/records/rutherfordine.yaml