Beryllonite

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Beryllonite
Beryllonite.jpg
Beryllonite (whitish) with tourmaline variety indicolite (blue) from Paprok, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Specimen size 4 cm
General
Category Phosphate minerals
Formula
(repeating unit)
NaBePO4
IMA symbol Bel [1]
Strunz classification 8.AA.10
Dana classification 38.01.05.01
Crystal system Monoclinic
Crystal class Prismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol)
Space group P21/n
Identification
ColorColorless, white to pale yellow
Crystal habit Crystals tabular {010} to short prismatic also in spherical aggregates, fibrous, massive; orthorhombic pseudo-symmetry
Twinning polysynthetic, contact and penetration twins; pseudo-hexagonal stellate forms
Cleavage {010} perfect; {100} good, interrupted; {101} indistinct; {001} in traces
Fracture Conchoidal
Tenacity Brittle
Mohs scale hardness5.5 – 6
Luster Vitreous to adamantine, may be pearly on {010}
Streak White
Diaphaneity Transparent to translucent
Specific gravity 2.8
Optical propertiesBiaxial (−)
Refractive index nα = 1.552 nβ = 1.558 nγ = 1.561
Birefringence δ = 0.009
2V angle 68°
References [2] [3] [4]

Beryllonite is a rare phosphate mineral with formula NaBePO4. The tabular to prismatic monoclinic crystals vary from colorless to white or pale yellowish, and are transparent with a vitreous luster. Twinning is common and occurs in several forms. It exhibits perfect cleavage in one direction. The hardness is 5.5 to 6 and the specific gravity is 2.8. Refractive indices are nα = 1.552, nβ = 1.558 and nγ = 1.561. A few crystals have been cut and faceted, but, as the refractive index is no higher than that of quartz, they do not make very brilliant gemstones. [5]

It occurs as a secondary beryllium mineral in granitic and alkalic pegmatites. It was first described from complex crystals and as broken fragments in the disintegrated material of a granitic vein at Stoneham, Oxford County, Maine where it is associated with feldspar, smoky quartz, beryl and columbite. It was discovered by James Dwight Dana in 1888, and named beryllonite for its beryllium content.

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Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula NaAlSi
3
O
8
. It is a tectosilicate. Its color is usually pure white, hence its name from Latin, albus. It is a common constituent in felsic rocks.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenakite</span>

Phenakite or phenacite is a fairly rare nesosilicate mineral consisting of beryllium orthosilicate, Be2SiO4. Occasionally used as a gemstone, phenakite occurs as isolated crystals, which are rhombohedral with parallel-faced hemihedrism, and are either lenticular or prismatic in habit: the lenticular habit is determined by the development of faces of several obtuse rhombohedra and the absence of prism faces. There is no cleavage, and the fracture is conchoidal. The Mohs hardness is high, being 7.5–8; the specific gravity is 2.96. The crystals are sometimes perfectly colorless and transparent, but more often they are greyish or yellowish and only translucent; occasionally they are pale rose-red. In general appearance the mineral is not unlike quartz, for which indeed it has been mistaken. Its name comes from Ancient Greek: φέναξ, romanized: phénax, meaning "deceiver" due to its close visual similarity to quartz, named by Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld in 1833.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berborite</span>

Berborite is a beryllium borate mineral with the chemical formula Be2(BO3)(OH,F)·(H2O). It is colorless and leaves a white streak. Its crystals are hexagonal to pyramidal. It is transparent and has vitreous luster. It is not radioactive. Berborite is rated 3 on the Mohs Scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microlite</span>

Microlite was once known as a pale-yellow, reddish-brown, or black isometric mineral composed of sodium calcium tantalum oxide with a small amount of fluorine. Its chemical formula is (Na,Ca)2Ta2O6(O,OH,F). Today it is a name of a group of oxide minerals of a similar stoichiometry having tantalum prevailing over titanium and niobium. The microlite group belongs to a large pyrochlore supergroup that occurs in pegmatites and constitutes an ore of tantalum. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a variable specific gravity of 4.2 to 6.4. It occurs as disseminated microscopic subtranslucent to opaque octahedral crystals with a refractive index of 2.0 to 2.2. Microlite is also called djalmaite, but both names are now obsolete.

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Kutnohorite is a rare calcium manganese carbonate mineral with magnesium and iron that is a member of the dolomite group. It forms a series with dolomite, and with ankerite. The end member formula is CaMn2+(CO3)2, but Mg2+ and Fe2+ commonly substitute for Mn2+, with the manganese content varying from 38% to 84%, so the formula Ca(Mn2+,Mg,Fe2+)(CO3)2 better represents the species. It was named by Professor Bukowsky in 1901 after the type locality of Kutná Hora, Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. It was originally spelt "kutnahorite" but "kutnohorite" is the current IMA-approved spelling.

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Eucryptite is a lithium bearing aluminium silicate mineral with formula LiAlSiO4. It crystallizes in the trigonal – rhombohedral crystal system. It typically occurs as granular to massive in form and may pseudomorphically replace spodumene. It has a brittle to conchoidal fracture and indistinct cleavage. It is transparent to translucent and varies from colorless to white to brown. It has a Mohs hardness of 6.5 and a specific gravity of 2.67. Optically it is uniaxial positive with refractive index values of nω = 1.570 – 1.573 and nε = 1.583 – 1.587.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zektzerite</span>

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Bazzite is a beryllium scandium cyclosilicate mineral with chemical formula Be3Sc2Si6O18. It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system typically as small blue hexagonal crystals up to 2 cm length. It has a Mohs hardness of 6.5–7 and a specific gravity of 2.77 to 2.85.

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Danalite is an iron beryllium silicate sulfide mineral with formula: Fe2+4Be3(SiO4)3S.

Bityite is considered a rare mineral, and it is an endmember to the margarite mica sub-group found within the phyllosilicate group. The mineral was first described by Antoine François Alfred Lacroix in 1908, and later its chemical composition was concluded by Professor Hugo Strunz. Bityite has a close association with beryl, and it generally crystallizes in pseudomorphs after it, or in cavities associated with reformed beryl crystals. The mineral is considered a late-stage constituent in lithium bearing pegmatites, and has only been encountered in a few localities throughout the world. The mineral was named by Lacroix after Mt. Bity, Madagascar from where it was first discovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavendulan</span>

Lavendulan is an uncommon copper arsenate mineral, known for its characteristic intense electric blue colour. It belongs to the lavendulan group, which has four members:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanoite</span>

Kanoite is a light pinkish brown silicate mineral that is found in metamorphic rocks. It is an inosilicate and has a chemical formula of (Mg,Mn2+)2Si2O6. It is a member of pyroxene group and clinopyroxene subgroup.

Sweetite has a general formula of Zn(OH)2. The name is given after a curator of mineral department of the British Museum, Jessie May Sweet (1901–1979). It occurs in an oxidized vein in limestone bedrock with galena, ashoverite, wülfingite, anglesite, cerussite, hydrocerussite, litharge, fluorite, palygorskite and calcite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteite</span>

Whiteite is a rare hydrated hydroxyphosphate mineral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hambergite</span> Beryllium borate mineral

Hambergite (Be2BO3OH) is a beryllium borate mineral named after Swedish explorer and mineralogist Axel Hamberg (1863–1933). The mineral occurs as white or colorless orthorhombic crystals.

References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.
  2. http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/beryllonite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
  3. http://www.mindat.org/min-644.html Mindat.org
  4. http://www.webmineral.com/data/Beryllonite.shtml Webmineral data
  5. Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Beryllonite". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 818.

Sources