Wildcatite

CaFe3+Te6+O5(OH)
IMA status
  • Approved
IMA symbol
Wct
Also known as
  • IMA2020-019
  • Wildcatiet

Where it forms, where it's found

Type locality
High Grade Hill prospect
  1. Wildcat Project
  2. Detroit Mining District
  3. Juab County
  4. Utah
  5. USA

39.5917°, -113.1161°

1recorded occurrences
Source · OpenStreetMap

Physical

Transparency
Transparent · Translucent
Colour
Orange to brown · red-brown · white

Crystallography

Crystal system
Trigonal
Space group
P-3 1m
Cell parameters
a = 5.2003(14) Å · c = 4.9669(14) Å
Unit cell volume
116.3 ų
Z
1
Type-locality form

Variable. Orange to brown coatings or masses to earthy, white polycrystalline coatings filling jasperoid fracture surfaces. Coatings generally <0.1 mm thick but up to 5 cm². Nanoscale crystallites (~13nm) may form red-brown “crystals” up to 0.1 mm.

Chemical composition

Constituent elements
Mass composition breakdown
ElementAtoms At. mass g/mol Mass g/molMass share
52TeTelluriumTellurium1127.600127.600
39.81%
8OOxygenOxygen615.99995.994
29.95%
26FeIronIron155.84555.845
17.42%
20CaCalciumCalcium140.07840.078
12.50%
1HHydrogenHydrogen11.0081.008
0.32%
Total320.525100.00%

Mass share = atoms × atomic mass ÷ molar mass × 100

From IMA formula

Synonyms

  • IMA2020-019
  • Wildcatiet

In other languages

German
IMA 2020-019 · Wildcatit

Classification

Strunz
10th ed.

7.BC

  • 7SulfatesClass
  • 7.BSulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, without H2ODivision
  • 7.BCWith medium-sized and large cationsGroup
  • 7.BCWildcatiteSpecies

Literature, links & citation

Citations
  1. 2020Miyawaki, Ritsuro, Hatert, Frédéric, Pasero, Marco, Mills, Stuart J. (2020) IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) – Newsletter 56. European Journal of Mineralogy, 32 (4) 443-448 doi:10.5194/ejm-32-443-2020 DOI: 10.5194/ejm-32-443-2020
  2. 2021Missen, Owen P., Mills, Stuart J., Kampf, Anthony R., Coolbaugh, Mark F., Najorka, Jens, Rumsey, Michael S., Marty, Joe, Spratt, John, Raudsepp, Mati, McCormack, John K. (2021) Wildcatite, CaFe3+Te6+O5(OH), the second new tellurate mineral from the Detroit district, Juab County, Utah. The Canadian Mineralogist, 59 (4) 729-739 doi:10.3749/canmin.2000092DOI: 10.3749/canmin.2000092
  3. 2022(2022) Wildcatite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
  author    = {Mineral Index editorial board},
  title     = {Wildcatite — Mineral Index},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/wildcatite-55033},
  note      = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}