Metamorphosed dyke rocks in Witwatersrand gold mines carry pyrite crystals of unusual appearance. These crystals, particularly along the dyke margins, show curved and scratched surfaces that cut across crystal faces. The abrasion of the crystals is due to movement of dyke material under pressure. There is some suggestion of surface flow on the abraded surfaces. No deformation or granulation was obtained in laboratory experiments on pyrite crystals. Pressure shadows around the pyrite are described.

The vesicles of an olivine-dolerite that occurs as a small outcrop near Portree in the Isle of Skye contain zeolites and some hydrated calcium silicates. These latter include tobermorite, xonotlite, gyrolite, and what is presumed to be a new member of the tobermorite group. An attempt is made to account for the sequence of crystallization of the minerals.

Sixteen samples of Middle and Upper Chalk from the Chilterns yielded what appear to be fragments of fish scales, spines, and bones, which consist of collophane. X-ray examination by the powder method shows that the material has an apatite-type structure with cell dimensions close to those previously reported for francolite. Examination of single grains shows that the optical anisotropy is due to preferred orientation of the c-axes of the crystallites and this direction corresponds to the faster vibration direction. Such grains are found to be pseudouniaxial negative. Preferred orientation could not be detected in isotropic grains.

A new occurrence of the tantalum minerals simpsonite and stibiotantalite is described from a lithium pegmatite at Mtoko, Southern Rhodesia. Optical, chemical, and powder X-ray data are given and the formula of simpsonite is considered; a new formula is proposed.

Starting in December 1930, Mr. Bertram Thomas made the crossing of the Rub' al Khali, the desert region of Arabia lying between the mountains of the south coast and the Persian Gulf. Never before had this desert been crossed by any European, and probably rarely even by Arabs. The material collected on this expedition has been presented by Mr. Thomas for preservation in the British Museum.

The central region of a type 1 stone was found by optical and X-ray topographic examination to be densely populated with small inclusions. The X-ray studies indicated that these were precipitates formed after growth of the stone. Precipitate sizes fell into two groups, 1 µ or less, and around 5 µ. Many cases of decoration of grown-in dislocations by these precipitates were observed.

The abundance of the well-known potassium aluminium silicate minerals, orthoclase, microcline, and muscovite, stands in striking contrast with the rarity of the little-known potassium aluminium phosphate minerals. The only one of these which occurs as distinct crystals and which has yielded a satisfactory formula is minyulite, KAl2(PO4)2(OH,F).4H2O. This mineral was first described by E. S. Simpson and LeMesurier from Western Australia in 1933 and an examination of well-crystallized specimens from South Australia by L. J. Spencer et alii was published in 1943. Spencer's paper included X-ray single-crystal and powder data for minyulite. X-ray, optical, and specific gravity data were also determined at that time for a few other hydrous potassium aluminium phosphate minerals from the British Museum collections. These included palmerite from guano deposits in a large cavern, Monte Alburno, near Controne in Salerno, Italy, presented by E. Casoria who described the mineral in 1904, and taranakite from the Sugarloaves, near New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

In this paper is described a series of three small pcgmatite dikes and the skarns produced by them in Dalradiau ealc-silicate hornfelses, and after full discussion certain conclusions are deduced as to the mode of origin of these rocks. This suite has not been described previously and lies to the south of Bunbeg quay and to the east of Loughlin island (fig. 1). Tim only published accounts of the area contain but passing reference to some of the features here described. In 1891 Nolan (1) merely noted the existence of 'remarkable beds of garnetiferous limestone withtremolite' near the small village of Bunbeg, whilst Zealley (2) in 1909 briefly referred to these hornfelses.

Examination of previous physical methods of estimating the barium-content of these feldspars showed that they are generally unsatisfactory. A new variation diagram is constructed correlating BaO content and values of d132 determined from diffractometer records. It is estimated that the BaO content of these feldspars can normally be determined to about 2–3% by using this diagram.

Some of the problems of the mineralogy of the series are reviewed in the light of the experimental results, in particular the effect of polymorphic changes on the variation diagram. Some experimental evidence of the effect of different structural states upon the value of d132 is obtained, and the limitations imposed upon the method by the existence of such states are discussed.

At two localities on the outskirts of the township of Broken Hill—near the De Bavay shear zone, and at ‘The Piggery’—W. R. Browne reported unusual rock types rich in barium. His statement is accompanied by an analysis by H. P. White (analyst to the Mines Dept.) of one of these rocks, which contains 9·23% BaO. Subsequently S. R. Nockolds and E. G. Zies examined the felspars of the rock analysed by White with a view to ascertaining whether they are barium-containing varieties.

In view of the very high barium content of some of the occurrences now being investigated, much higher than that of the rock examined by Nockolds and Zies, a further mineralogical investigation was undertaken with the results recorded below. The rocks under examination were light-coloured gneisses containing up to 15% BaO. They are distributed as lenses and streaks in an acid gneiss. A specimen of the latter rock was analysed and found to contain only 0·09% BaO. The barium was found to occur in four felspars, one being a new variety of celsian. The minerals studied were celsian, calciocelsian, hyalophane, and barium-plagioclase. A careful search was made for other barium silicate minerals such as sanbornite, but none was found.

Sweetite, naturally occurring Zn(OH)2 with tetragonal symmetry, has been found at Milltown, near Ashover, Derbyshire. It occurs as colourless or whitish bipyramids up to 1 mm in size scattered over the surface of colourless fluorite cubes. The cell dimensions are α 8,222 and c 14.34Å with Z = 20. The strongest lines of the X-ray powder pattern are (d, I, hkl): 4.53 37 (112); 3.572 60 (004,202,211); 2.922 100 (213,220); 2.708 18 (105,204); 2.257 17 (224,215,321); 1.840 11 (226,420,413); 1.764 24 (316). Sweetite is uniaxial negative, ω 1.635, ɛ 1.628. Dmeas is close to 3.33 and Dcalc 3.41. Chemical analysis gave 84.3% ZnO and 17.0% H2O, while theoretical figures for Zn(OH)2 are 81.9 and 18.1% respectively.

Zoning in garnets in Barrovian garnet zone rocks of central Perthshire is shown to be dependent on the continuous prograde reaction histories in which the garnet was involved. In highly aluminous rocks, garnet grows at the expense of chloritoid and staurolite whereas in less aluminous rocks garnet grows at the expense of chlorite. Minerals included in garnet such as ilmenite, plagioclase, chlorite, and chloritoid show compositional changes which with the garnet zoning elucidate the garnet-forming reactions. Where garnet is resorbed to produce staurolite the former loses Fe at its rim to staurolite so that ‘reverse’ zoning of decreasing Fe and increasing Mn and Ca towards garnet rim develops.

Ore microscope and electron microprobe investigations on Zn-Pb-Ag ores from B Zone in Silvermines, Ireland, have shown the presence of two As-Sb-Ag phases; a tetrahedrite-group mineral with composition Cu6.3Ag3.7Fe0.9Zn1.2As2.2Sb2.1S12.7 and proustite-pyrargyrite (Ag3As0.5Sb0.5S3). It is postulated that both phases inherited their As and Sb from primary geocronite (Pb14.5As3.4Sb2.6S23) and that they are metastable. An enrichment in Ni in the ores is due to very fine to submicroscopic intergrowths of gersdorffite (Ni0.6Fe0.4AsS) with geocronite and with galena.

Daliranite, ideally PbHgAs2S6, a new sulphosalt from the Zarshouran Au-As deposit, Takab region, Iran, occurs as a rare sulphosalt species at the Carlin-type Zarshouran Au-As deposit North of the town of Takab in the Province of West Azarbaijan, Iran. The new species is associated with orpiment, rarely with galkhaite, hutchinsonite and cinnabar. The strongly silicified matrix of the specimens has veinlets of sphalerite, with rare inclusions of galena and various (Cu)-Pb-As(Sb) sulphosalts. Daliranite occurs as matted nests of acicular and flexible fibres up to 200 μm in length and a width less than a few μm. The colour is orange-red with a pale orange-red streak and the lustre is adamantine. The mineral is transparent and does not fluoresce. The Mohs hardness is <2. Electron microprobe analyses give the empirical formula Pb0.95Tl0.01Hg1.04As2.10S5.91, ideally PbHgAs2S6, a new sulphosalt from the Zarshouran Au-As deposit, Takab region, Iran; the calculated density is 5.93 g cm–3. Unit-cell parameters were determined by an electron-diffraction study and refined from X-ray powder data. Daliranite is monoclinic primitive with a = 19.113(5) Å, b = 4.233(2) Å, c = 22.958(8) Å, β = 114.78(5)°, V = 1686.4 Å3 and Z = 8, a:b:c = 4.515:1:5.424, space group P2, Pm or P2/m. The strongest X-ray powder-diffraction lines [d in Å, (I), (hkl)] are: 8.676, (80), (200); 4.654, (50), (401); 3.870, (40), (211); 3.394, (50), (113); 3.148, (40b), (602); 2.892, (50), (600); 2.724, (100), (703); 2.185, (50), (319). The formula shows a sulphur excess which may correspond to S—S bonding (persulphide). The new sulphosalt is a late phase in the crystallization sequence, and was formed after orpiment, contemporaneously with quartz II, at a temperature between 157 and 193°C. The name honours Dr Farahnaz Daliran (University of Karlsruhe, Germany) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to research on ore deposits, especially Au, Zn and Fe, in Iran.

An occurrence of a celadonite-like mineral in a weathered basalt in the Lake District has been investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, electron microprobe, and infra-red spectroscopic methods. The bulk composition of the mineral corresponds to an aluminous-glauconite. The data show that the mineral is most probably a celadonite-muscovite or celadonite-illite mixture, although a celadonite-phengite cannot be entirely discounted. Approximately 10% smectite layers are also present. The results suggest that re-examination of many aluminous glauconites may show them to be mixtures of this type.

Yellow needles of 'iodolaurionite', Pb(OH)I, and a novel compound Pb2O(OH)I, have been prepared by hydrothermal reactions of PbO and PbI2 at 170°C. The crystal structure of 'iodolaurionite', Pb(OH)I (orthorhombic, Pnma, a = 7.8244(8), b = 4.2107(4), c = 10.4724(10) Å, V = 345.03(6) Å3, Z = 4) has been refined to R1 = 0.041 for 129 independent observed reflections. The structure is based on the OHPb3 triangles sharing common edges to produce single [OHPb]+ chains extending along the b axis and parallel to the ab plane. The three-dimensional integrity of the structure is provided by the Pb–I bonds and the O–H···I hydrogen bonding. The structure is isotypic with that of laurionite, Pb(OH)Cl. The crystal structure of Pb2O(OH)I (monoclinic, C2/m, a = 13.711(3), b = 4.0975(10), c = 9.584(2) Å, β = 110.64(1)°, V = 503.9(2) Å3, Z = 4), has been solved by direct methods and refined to R1 = 0.053 for 586 independent observed reflections. In the structure of Pb2O(OH)I, O(1)Pb4 tetrahedra link together by sharing edges and corners to form [OPb2]2+ chains similar to those observed in sidpietersite. The O(2) atoms belong to hydroxyl groups attached to both sides of the chains to produce novel [O(OH)Pb2]+ 1D units. The [O(OH)Pb2]+ units are extended parallel to the b axis and lie within the bc plane. The [O(OH)Pb2]+ units are linked together via hydrogen bonding in the (100) plane and by weak Pb–I bonds in the [100] direction. The [O(OH)Pb2]+ bands can be obtained from the [OPb] layer of OPb4 tetrahedra present in the structure of tetragonal PbO (litharge). The continuous [OPb] layer has to be broken into [O2Pb2] bands containing 3- and 4-coordinated O atoms in the 1:1 ratio with subsequent protonation of the 3-coordinated O sites. Relations of Pb(OH)I and Pb2O(OH)I to known Pb hydroxy- and oxyhalides are described briefly.