Okieite

okieite

montroseite

corvusite

dickthomssenite

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Formula: Mg₃[V₁₀O₂₈].28H₂O
Hydrated decavanadate
Specific gravity: 2.20 measured, 2.291 calculated
Hardness: 1½
Streak: Light orange-yellow
Colour: Bright red to red-orange to yellow-orange
Luminescence: Nonfluorescent in ultraviolet light
Solubility: At room temperature rapidly soluble in water, and dehydrates readily in air at low relative humidity
Environments

Sedimentary environments
Hydrothermal environments

Okieite is a relatively new mineral, approved in 2018.

Localities

There are two co-type localities, the Hummer mine, Paradox Valley, Uravan Mining District, Montrose County, and the Burro Mine, Slick Rock Mining District, San Miguel County, both in Colorado, USA.

At the Hummer mine, Paradox Valley, Uravan Mining District, Montrose County, Colorado, USA, okieite was confirmed on a specimen collected underground. The geology of this occurrence is similar to that of the Burro mine. At the Hummer mine, okieite occurs with gypsum on montroseite- and corvusite-bearing sandstone as drusy crusts of equant crystals only about 0.2 mm across (CM 58.1.125-135).

At the Burro Mine, Slick Rock Mining District, San Miguel County, Colorado, USA, the deposits occur in sandstone where groundwater solutions rich in uranium and vanadium encountered locally reducing conditions created by decaying organic matter derived from Jurassic forests.
The Burro mine is the type locality for metamunirite, burroite, ammoniozippeite, ammoniomathesiusite, ammoniolasalite, uroxite, metauroxite and caseyite.
Okieite is rare; it occurs underground as equant to prismatic crystals, commonly appearing as curving columns up to about 3 mm in length, and often exhibiting rounded faces. It is associated with dickthomssenite on montroseite- and corvusite-bearing sandstone, and forms from oxidation of the montroseite-corvusite assemblages in a moist environment.
Besides these minerals, other secondary minerals confirmed from the mine include barnesite, gypsum, hewettite, magnesiopascoite, metarossite, natrojarosite, natrozippeite, navajoite, pascoite, rossite, schindlerite, sherwoodite and wernerbaurite (CM 58.1.125-135).

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