Ammineite


Ammineite is the first recognized mineral containing ammine groups. Its formula is . The mineral is chemically pure. It was found in a guano deposit in Chile. At the same site other ammine-containing minerals were later found:
The characteristic features of the structure of ammineite are:
Ammineite coexists with atacamite, darapskite, halite and salammoniac.

Origin

Ammineite is supposed to be a result of an interaction of an earlier copper mineral, likely from a plutonic rock, with ammonia in guano. Ammonia may be produced in decomposition of compounds like urea or uric adic.