Oulankaite

Where it forms, where it's found

Geological setting: In pegmatoidal pyroxenite hosted in microgabbronorite.
Type locality: Lukkulaisvaara ultrabasic Massif (Lukkulaisvaara pluton
Lukkulaisvaara layered intrusion)
Olanga River (Oulanka River)
Oulanka plutonic complex
Loukhsky District
Republic of Karelia
Russia

1recorded occurrences

Source · OpenStreetMap

Physical

Hardness: 1Talc
2Gypsum
3Calcite
4Fluorite
5Apatite
6Orthoclase
7Quartz
8Topaz
9Corundum
10Diamond
Lustre: Metallic
Transparency: Opaque
Density: 10.27 g/cm³

Optical

Pleochroism: Visible
Purplish pink, creamy pink or grayish cream tints.
Anisotropism: strong from yellowish-white to bluish-grey
Bireflectance: strongly bireflectant
Tropism: Anisotropic
Reflectance R%: (33.0,31.5,24.3,22.0) 400, (38.4,34.5,27.0,23.2) 440, (41.6,36.2,29.1,23.5) 470, (44.9,38.2,31.8,25.3) 500, (48.7,41.0,35.2,29.5) 546, (49.9,41.8,35.9,30.1) 560, (51.7,43.1,37.1,30.8) 589, (53.1,44.0,40.7,34.3) 620, (54.0,44.6,39.4,33.8) 650, (54.2,44.8,39.1,33.6) 680, (54.3,45.0,38.5,33.0) 700

Crystallography

Crystal system: Tetragonal
Cell parameters: a = 9.044(3) Å · c = 4.937(3) Å
Z: 2
Morphology: platy grains to 0.2 mm, with characteristic fine twins. Occurs as inclusions in chalcopyrite.
Twinning: platy twins
Type-locality form: platy subhedral to euhedral inclusions in chalcopyrite
Comment: Tetragonal (based on XRD pattern). Point Group: n.d.; Space Group: n.d.

Chemical composition

Constituent elements: Mass composition breakdown
Element Atoms At. mass g/mol Mass g/mol Mass share
46PdPalladium Palladium 5 106.420 532.100
43.46%
52TeTellurium Tellurium 2 127.600 255.200
20.84%
29CuCopper Copper 4 63.546 254.184
20.76%
50SnTin Tin 1 118.710 118.710
9.70%
16SSulfur Sulfur 2 32.060 64.120
5.24%
Total 1224.314 100.00%
Mass share = atoms × atomic mass ÷ molar mass × 100
From IMA formula

Mass composition breakdown
Element	Atoms	At. mass g/mol	Mass g/mol	Mass share
46PdPalladium	Palladium	5	106.420	532.100	43.46%
52TeTellurium	Tellurium	2	127.600	255.200	20.84%
29CuCopper	Copper	4	63.546	254.184	20.76%
50SnTin	Tin	1	118.710	118.710	9.70%
16SSulfur	Sulfur	2	32.060	64.120	5.24%
	Total	1224.314	100.00%

Synonyms

IMA1990-055
Oulankaiet
Oulongaite

In other languages

German: IMA 1990-055 · Oulankait
Italian: Oulankaite

Classification

Strunz

10th ed.

2.BC.40

2Sulfides and SulfosaltsClass
2.BMetal Sulfides, M: S > 1: 1 (mainly 2: 1)Division
2.BCWith Rh, Pd, Pt, etc.Group
2.BC.40OulankaiteSpecies

Literature, links & citation

Citations

1996Mandarino, Joseph A. (1996) Abstracts of New Mineral Descriptions. The Mineralogical Record, 27 (6) 463-466
1996Barkov, Andrew Yu., Men’Shikov, Yurii P., Begizov, Victor D., Lednev, Andrew I. (1996) Oulankaite, a new platinum-group mineral from the Lukkulaisvaara layered intrusion, northern Karelia, Russia. European Journal of Mineralogy, 8 (2) 311-316 doi:10.1127/ejm/8/2/0311DOI: 10.1127/ejm/8/2/0311
2004Barkov, A. Y., Fleet, M. E., Martin, R. F., Tarkian, M. (2004) Compositional variations of oulankaite and a new series of argentian oulankaite from the Lukkulaisvaara layered intrusion, northern Russian Karelia. The Canadian Mineralogist, 42 (2) 439-453 doi:10.2113/gscanmin.42.2.439 DOI: 10.2113/gscanmin.42.2.439
2005Jambor, John L., Roberts, Andrew C. (2005) New Mineral Names. American Mineralogist, 90 (1) 271-275 doi:10.2138/am.2005.429DOI: 10.2138/am.2005.429
2021(2021) Oulankaite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America

Cite this entry

@misc{mineral2026,
  author    = {Mineral Index editorial board},
  title     = {Oulankaite — Mineral Index},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/oulankaite-3045},
  note      = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}