A contribution to the mineralogy of Monte Guisi cave (SW Sardinia, Italy).

This note presents a preliminary mineralogical study of the skarn-hosted Monte Guisi Cave in SW Sardinia (Italy). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscope (including energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis; EDS) analyses allowed us to identify some uncommon cave minerals such as: cerussite PbCO3, rosasite (Cu,Zn)2(CO3)(OH)2, dundasite PbAl2(CO3)2(OH)4·H2O), brochantite Cu4SO4(OH)6, cuprite Cu2O, hemimorphite Zn4Si2O7(OH)2·H2O, chrysocolla (Cu,Al)2H2Si2O5(OH)4·nH2O, shattuckite Cu5(SiO3)4(OH)2, and plancheite Cu8(Si4O11)2(OH)4·H2O. Dundasite and plancheite are for the first time reported as cave minerals. All these species appear to represent oxidation/hydrolysis products of the primarily Pb-Zn and Cu-rich ore mineralization that impregnates the carbonate bedrock