Manganite

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Manganite
Manganite-180085.jpg
Manganite, Ilfeld, Thuringia, Germany (size: 5.2×4.1×2.7 cm)
General
Category Oxide mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
MnO(OH)
IMA symbol Mnn [1]
Strunz classification 4.FD.15
Dana classification06.01.03.01
Crystal system Monoclinic
Crystal class Prismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol)
Space group P21/c
Unit cell a = 5.3 Å, b = 5.278 Å,
c = 5.307 Å; β = 114.36°; Z = 4
Identification
ColorDark steel-gray to black, reddish brown in transmitted light, gray-white with brownish tint, with blood-red internal reflections in reflected light
Crystal habit Slender prismatic crystals, massive to fibrous, pseudo-orthorhombic
Twinning {011}
Cleavage {010} perfect, {110} and {001} good
Fracture Uneven
Tenacity Brittle
Mohs scale hardness4
Luster Sub-metallic
Streak Reddish brown to nearly black
Diaphaneity Opaque, transparent on thin edges
Specific gravity 4.29–4.34
Optical propertiesBiaxial (+)
Refractive index nα = 2.250(2)
nβ = 2.250(2)
nγ = 2.530(2)
Birefringence δ = 0.280, Bireflectance: distinct in grays
Pleochroism Faint
2V angle Small
Dispersion Very strong
References [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Manganite is a mineral composed of manganese oxide-hydroxide, MnO(OH), crystallizing in the monoclinic system (pseudo-orthorhombic). [3] Crystals of manganite are prismatic and deeply striated parallel to their length; they are often grouped together in bundles. The color is dark steel-grey to iron-black, and the luster brilliant and submetallic. The streak is dark reddish brown. The hardness is 4, and the specific gravity is 4.3. There is a perfect cleavage parallel to the brachypinacoid, and less-perfect cleavage parallel to the prism faces. Twinned crystals are not infrequent.

Contents

The mineral contains 89.7% manganese sesquioxide; it dissolves in hydrochloric acid with evolution of chlorine.

Occurrence

Manganite crystal group ManganiteUSGOV.jpg
Manganite crystal group

Manganite occurs with other manganese oxides in deposits formed by circulating meteoric water in the weathering environment in clay deposits and laterites. It forms by low temperature hydrothermal action in veins in association with calcite, barite, and siderite. Often associated with pyrolusite, braunite, hausmannite and goethite. [3] [6]

Manganite occurs in specimens exhibiting good crystal form at Ilfeld in the Harz Mountains of Germany, [7] where the mineral occurs with calcite and barite in veins traversing porphyry. Crystals have also been found at Ilmenau in Thuringia, Neukirch near Sélestat in Alsace (newkirkite), Granam near Towie in Aberdeenshire, and in Upton Pyne near Exeter, UK and Negaunee, Michigan, United States, and in the Pilbara of Western Australia. Good crystals have also been found at Atikokan, Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada. As an ore of manganese it is much less abundant than pyrolusite or psilomelane.

Although described with various other names as early as 1772, the name manganite was first applied in a publication by W. Haidinger in 1827. [8]

Crystal structure of manganite Manganite.GIF
Crystal structure of manganite

Applications

The mineral was used in prehistoric times as a pigment, by humans, and as a fire starter by Neanderthalers. Manganite is believed to have been used in prehistoric times to start a wood fire. Manganite lowers the combustion temperature of wood from 350 degrees Celsius to 250 degrees Celsius. Manganite powder has been a common find in Neanderthal archaeological sites. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Calcite Calcium carbonate mineral

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 3 as "calcite".

Strontianite Rare carbonate mineral and raw material for the extraction of strontium

Strontianite (SrCO3) is an important raw material for the extraction of strontium. It is a rare carbonate mineral and one of only a few strontium minerals. It is a member of the aragonite group.

Galena Natural mineral form of lead sulfide

Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.

Psilomelane

Psilomelane is a group name for hard black manganese oxides including hollandite and romanechite. Psilomelane consists of hydrous manganese oxide with variable amounts of barium and potassium. Psilomelane is erroneously, and uncommonly, known as black hematite, despite not being related to true hematite, which is an iron oxide.

Anglesite

Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and celestine. It contains 74% of lead by mass and therefore has a high specific gravity of 6.3. Anglesite's color is white or gray with pale yellow streaks. It may be dark gray if impure.

Pyrolusite

Pyrolusite is a mineral consisting essentially of manganese dioxide (MnO2) and is important as an ore of manganese. It is a black, amorphous appearing mineral, often with a granular, fibrous, or columnar structure, sometimes forming reniform crusts. It has a metallic luster, a black or bluish-black streak, and readily soils the fingers. The specific gravity is about 4.8. Its name is from the Greek for fire and to wash, in reference to its use as a way to remove tints from glass.

Anhydrite Mineral, anhydrous calcium sulfate

Anhydrite, or anhydrous calcium sulfate, is a mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium (baryte) and strontium (celestine) sulfates, as might be expected from the chemical formulas. Distinctly developed crystals are somewhat rare, the mineral usually presenting the form of cleavage masses. The Mohs hardness is 3.5, and the specific gravity is 2.9. The color is white, sometimes greyish, bluish, or purple. On the best developed of the three cleavages, the lustre is pearly; on other surfaces it is glassy. When exposed to water, anhydrite readily transforms to the more commonly occurring gypsum, (CaSO4·2H2O) by the absorption of water. This transformation is reversible, with gypsum or calcium sulfate hemihydrate forming anhydrite by heating to around 200 °C (400 °F) under normal atmospheric conditions. Anhydrite is commonly associated with calcite, halite, and sulfides such as galena, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, and pyrite in vein deposits.

Hübnerite

Hübnerite or hubnerite is a mineral consisting of manganese tungsten oxide (chemical formula MnWO4). It is the manganese endmember of the manganese–iron wolframite solid solution series. It forms reddish brown to black monoclinic prismatic submetallic crystals. The crystals are typically flattened and occur with fine striations. It has a high specific gravity of 7.15 and a Mohs hardness of 4.5. It is transparent to translucent with perfect cleavage. Refractive index values are nα = 2.170 - 2.200, nβ = 2.220, and nγ = 2.300 - 2.320.

Bournonite Sulfosalt mineral species

Bournonite is a sulfosalt mineral species, trithioantimoniate of lead and copper with the formula PbCuSbS3.

Harmotome Rare zeolite mineral

Harmotome is a mineral, one of the rarer zeolites; a hydrated barium silicate with formula: (Ba0.5,Ca0.5,Na,K)5Al5,Si11O32·12(H2O). It forms vitreous white well defined monoclinic crystals, often associated with calcite and other zeolites. It has a Mohs hardness of 4 to 5 and a specific gravity of 2.44 to 2.5.

Hausmannite

Hausmannite is a complex oxide of manganese containing both di- and tri-valent manganese. The formula can be represented as Mn2+Mn3+2O4. It belongs to the spinel group and forms tetragonal crystals. Hausmannite is a brown to black metallic mineral with Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 4.8.

Todorokite Hydrous manganese oxide mineral

Todorokite is a rare complex hydrous manganese oxide mineral with the chemical formula (Na,Ca,K,Ba,Sr)
1-x
(Mn,Mg,Al)
6
O
12
·3-4H
2
O
. It was named in 1934 for the type locality, the Todoroki mine, Hokkaido, Japan. It belongs to the prismatic class 2/m of the monoclinic crystal system, but the angle β between the a and c axes is close to 90°, making it seem orthorhombic. It is a brown to black mineral which occurs in massive or tuberose forms. It is quite soft with a Mohs hardness of 1.5, and a specific gravity of 3.49 - 3.82. It is a component of deep ocean basin manganese nodules.

Afwillite Nesosilicate alteration mineral also sometimes found in hydrated cement paste

Afwillite is a calcium hydroxide nesosilicate mineral with formula Ca3(SiO3OH)2·2H2O. It occurs as glassy, colorless to white prismatic monoclinic crystals. Its Mohs scale hardness is between 3 and 4. It occurs as an alteration mineral in contact metamorphism of limestone. It occurs in association with apophyllite, natrolite, thaumasite, merwinite, spurrite, gehlenite, ettringite, portlandite, hillebrandite, foshagite, brucite and calcite.

Alabandite

Alabandite or alabandine is a rarely occurring manganese sulfide mineral. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system with the chemical composition Mn2+S and develops commonly massive to granular aggregates, but rarely also cubic or octahedral crystals to 1 cm.

Akhtenskite is a manganese oxide mineral with the chemical formula of MnO2 (or: ε-Mn4+O2) that was named after the Akhtensk deposit in Russia, where it was first discovered and noted in 1979. It can be found in the Akhtensk brown ironstone deposit, in the southern Ural Mountains, on Mt. Zarod, on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, and in the Primorskiy Krai, all in Russia.

Mendipite Oxyhalide of lead. Rare mineral found in the Mendip Hills

Mendipite is a rare mineral that was named in 1939 for the locality where it is found, the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. It is an oxyhalide of lead with formula Pb3Cl2O2.

Cryptomelane

Cryptomelane is a potassium manganese oxide mineral with formula K(Mn4+,Mn2+)8O16.

Gatehouseite is a manganese hydroxy phosphate mineral with formula Mn5(PO4)2(OH)4. First discovered in 1987, it was identified as a new mineral species in 1992 and named for Bryan M. K. C. Gatehouse (born 1932). As of 2012, it is known from only one mine in South Australia.

Arsenoclasite (originally arsenoklasite) is a red or dark orange brown mineral with formula Mn5(AsO4)2(OH)4. The name comes from the Greek words αρσενικόν (for arsenic) and κλάσις (for cleavage), as arsenoclasite contains arsenic and has perfect cleavage. The mineral was discovered in 1931 in Långban, Sweden.

Ramsdellite

Ramsdellite (Mn4+O2) is an orthorhombic manganese dioxide mineral. It is relatively uncommon, and is usually found in deposits containing other manganese oxide 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. Mineralienatlas
  3. 1 2 3 Handbook of Mineralogy
  4. Mindat
  5. Webmineral data
  6. 1 2 Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurbut, Jr., Manual of Mineralogy, Wiley, 20th ed., 1985, p. 317 ISBN   0-471-80580-7
  7. 1 2 T. P. Moore, Famous Mineral Localities: Ilfeld, Harz Mountains, Thuringia, Germany, The Mineralogical Record, vol. 41, no. 6, 2010.
  8. Palache, Charles, Harry Berman and Clifford Frondel, The System of Mineralogy V.1, p. 646, Wiley, 7th ed., 1944
  9. Heyes, Peter J.; Anastasakis, Konstantinos; de Jong, Wiebren; van Hoesel, Annelies; Roebroeks, Wil; Soressi, Marie (29 February 2016). "Selection and Use of Manganese Dioxide by Neanderthals". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 22159. Bibcode:2016NatSR...622159H. doi:10.1038/srep22159. PMC   4770591 . PMID   26922901.