Xocomecatlite is a rare tellurate

Tellurate

The tellurate ion is TeO42− or TeO66−.Unlike sulfate, tellurate is a somewhat good oxidizer; it can be reduced to tellurite or tellurium....

 mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 with formula: Cu₃(TeO₄)(OH)₄. It is an orthorhombic mineral which occurs as aggregates or spherules of green needlelike crystals.

It was first described in 1975 for an occurrence in the Oriental mine near Moctezuma, Sonora

Moctezuma, Sonora

Moctezuma is a municipio of the Mexican state of Sonora, located in the state's central region. It is also the name of its largest settlement and cabecera municipal .-Area and Population:...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. It has also been reported from the Centennial Eureka mine in the Tintic District, Juab County, Utah

Juab County, Utah

Juab County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000 the population was 8,238, and by 2005 had been estimated at 9,113. It was named from an Indian word meaning thirsty valley, or possibly only valley. Its county seat and largest city is Nephi.Juab County is part of the...

 and the Emerald mine of the Tombstone District

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...

, Cochise County, Arizona

Cochise County, Arizona

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The name is derived from xocomecatl, the Nahuatl word for "bunches of grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s", and alludes to the mineral's appearance as a set of green spherules.It occurs in the oxidized zone of gold tellurium veins in altered rhyolite

Rhyolite

This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...

. It occurs associated with other rare tellurate minerals: parakhinite, dugganite, mcalpineite, leisingite, jensenite; the sulfate - phosphate minerals: hinsdalite–svanbergite

Svanbergite

Svanbergite is a colorless, yellow or reddish mineral with the chemical formula SrAl36. It has rhombohedral crystals.It was first described for an occurrence in Varmland, Sweden in 1854 and named for Swedish chemist Lars Fredrik Svanberg .It occurs in high aluminium medium-grade metamorphic rocks;...

; and the oxide goethite

Goethite

Goethite , named after the German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is an iron bearing oxide mineral found in soil and other low-temperature environments. Goethite has been well known since prehistoric times for its use as a pigment. Evidence has been found of its use in paint pigment samples...

.