Where it forms, where it's found
- Geological setting
Quartz-sulfide ore veins.
Commonly found as an oxidation product in tailings from arsenic rich deposits.
- Type locality
- Daulton Mine
- Windy Arm
- Tagish Lake
- Carcross
- Whitehorse mining district
- Yukon
- Canada
60.0189°, -134.6311°
42recorded occurrences
Safety & handling
Physical
Optical
- Optical type
- Isotropic
- Pleochroism
- Non-pleochroic
- UV response
- Not fluorescent in UV
Δ = 0Δmax
PPLpleochroism per grain
XPLindependent extinctions · rotate the stage
PPLpleochroism only · colour blends on rotation
XPLinterference colour · extinct every 90°
Retardation0 nm
Order1st order
XPL colour
Crystallography
- Cell parameters
- a = 19.6 Å
- Morphology
Occurs in pitchy to waxy masses or earthy coatings on fractures in rock. TEM shows crude 5 nm platy shapes with (001), (100), and small (110).
- Type-locality form
Black bright pitchy lumps with deep yellow to brown internal reflections. The lumps of yukonite decrepitated from the heat of handling or when submersed in water due to escape and expansion of enclosed carbon dioxide.
- Comment
Poorly crystalline and frequently amorphous to X-rays. "a orth = √3a hex = 19.6 Å". Also pseudohexagonal: d(100) = 9.8 Å, ahex =11.3 Å (Nishikawa et al., 2006).
Chemical composition
Synonyms
- Yukoniet
In other languages
- German
- Yukonit
- Spanish
- Yukonita
- Italian
- Yukonite
- Russian
- Юконит
Classification
Strunz
10th ed.8.DM.25
- 8Phosphates, Arsenates, VanadatesClass
- 8.DPhosphates, etc. with additional anions, with H2ODivision
- 8.DMWith large and medium-sized cations, (OH, etc.):RO4 > 2:1Group
- 8.DM.25YukoniteSpecies
Dana
8th ed.42.08.06.01
- 42Hydrated Phosphates, Etc.containing Hydroxyl or HalogenClass
- 42.08(AB)5(XO4)3Zq·xH2OType
- 42.08.06— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 42.08.06.01YukoniteSpecies
CIM
—20.9.12
- 20Arsenates (also arsenates with phosphate, but without other anions)Class
- 20.9Arsenates of FeGroup
- 20.9.12YukoniteSpecies
Literature, links & citation
Citations
- 1913Tyrell, J.B., Graham, R.P.D. (1913) Yukonite, a new hydrous arsenate of iron and calcium from Tagish Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada; with a note on the associated symplesite. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada: 7(4): 13-18.
- 1966Jambor, J.L. (1966) Re-examination of yukonite. The Canadian Mineralogist: 8: 667. (abstr.)
- 1970The Canadian Mineralogist (1970): 8: 13-18.
- 1982Dunn, Pete J. (1982) New data for pitticite and a second occurrence of yukonite at Sterling Hill, New Jersey. Mineralogical Magazine, 46 (339) 261-264 doi:10.1180/minmag.1982.046.339.14 DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1982.046.339.14
- 1997Ross, Daphne R.; Post, Jeffrey E. (1997) New data on yukonite. Powder Diffraction, 12 (2). 113-116 doi:10.1017/s0885715600009556DOI: 10.1017/s0885715600009556
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
author = {Mineral Index editorial board},
title = {Yukonite — Mineral Index},
year = {2026},
url = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/yukonite-4377},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}