Suanite
Suanite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula Mg2B2O5.
| Suanite | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Borate mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | Mg2B2O5 |
| Strunz classification | 6.BA.05 |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Space group | P21/a |
| Unit cell | a = 12.31 Å, b = 3.12 Å c = 9.2 Å; β = 104.33° |
| Identification | |
| Color | White to pale gray |
| Crystal habit | Clusters of prismatic to fibrous crystals |
| Cleavage | Perfect parallel to {010} |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5.5 |
| Luster | Silky to pearly |
| Streak | White |
| Diaphaneity | Translucent |
| Specific gravity | 2.91 |
| Optical properties | Biaxial (–) |
| Refractive index | nα = 1.596 nβ = 1.639 nγ = 1.670 |
| Birefringence | δ = 0.074 |
| 2V angle | 70° |
| References | [1][2][3] |
It was first described in 1953 by Japanese scientist Takeo Watanabe from the University of Tokyo.[4] His first contact with the mineral was during analysis of gold- and copper- bearing skarn minerals from the Hol Kol mine, located in North Korea obtained in 1939. Due to the small sample size available to him, he was only able to determine the unknown substance's optical properties under a microscope. Watanabe was able to return to the site in 1943 and obtain further samples that permitted him to perform chemical analysis on the material.[4]
References
- Suanite on Mindat.org
- Suanite data on Webmineral
- Suanite in the Handbook of Mineralogy
- Watanabe, Takeo (September 1953). "Suanite, a New Magnesium Borate Mineral from Hol Kol, Suan, North Korea". Mineralogical Journal. 1 (1): 54–62. Bibcode:1953MinJ....1...54W. doi:10.2465/minerj1953.1.54.
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