Perovskite
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Perovskite was named in honor of Count Lev Alekseevich Perovskii (1792–1856), Russian mineralogist, of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Discovered in 1839;   IMA status:  Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered)

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

CaTiO₃

Calcium Titanium Oxide

Molecular Weight:

135.96 gm

Composition:

Calcium

29.48 %

Ca

41.25 %

CaO

Titanium

35.22 %

Ti

58.75 %

TiO₂

Oxygen

35.30 %

O

100.00 %

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Oxides

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

4/C.10-20

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

4.CC.30

4 : OXIDES (Hydroxides, V[5,6] vanadates, arsenites, antimonites, bismuthites, sulfites, selenites, tellurites, iodates)
C : Metal: Oxygen = 2: 3,3: 5, and similar
C : With large and medium-sized cations

Related to:

Perovskite Group. The Ti analogue of Lakargiite. Isostructural with Lakargiite.

Varieties:

Dysanalyte, Knopite

Synonyms:

Metaperovskite, Perofskite, Perovskite (of Rose), Uhligite (of Hauser)

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Orthorhombic - Dipyramidal

Crystal Habit:

Commonly resemble distorted cubes, to 12 cm, striated || [001] and [110], rarely cubo-octahedra or octahedra, with additional forms, skeletal, dendritic; reniform, granular massive.

Twinning:

90º and 180º about [101], rarely 180  about [121], giving complex penetration twins; lamellar and sectored.

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

Imperfect/Fair on {001} 

Fracture:

Irregular/Uneven to Sub-Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.5

Density:

3.98 - 4.26 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Iron-Black, Brown, Reddish Brown to Yellow; Colorless to dark Brown in transmitted light; dark Bluish Gray in reflected light.

Transparency:

Opaque, Transparent in thin fragments

Luster:

Adamantine, Metallic, Sub-Metallic, may be Dull

Refractive Index:

2.300 - 2.380  Biaxial  ( + ); commonly Isotropic

Birefringence:

0.080; commonly Isotropic

Dispersion:

r > v; n = 2.34–2.37

Pleochroism:

Weak; Z greater than X

Anisotrophism:

Color in reflected light: dark Bluish Gray

Occurances

Geological Setting:

An accessory mineral in alkaline mafic rocks, as nepheline syenites, kimberlites, carbonatites, commonly deuteric; in calcareous skarns. A common accessory in Ca–Al-rich inclusions in some carbonaceous chondrites.

Common Associations:

Akermanite–Gehlenite, Nepheline, Titanite, Ilmenite, Magnetite.

Common Impurities:

Fe, Nb, Ce, La, TR

Type Locality:

Akhmatovskaya Kop' (Achmatovsk Mine), Nazyamskie Mts, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk Oblast', Southern Urals, Urals Region, Russia

Year Discovered:

1839

View mineral photos:

Perovskite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org 
Webmineral.com

Perovskite is named for Russian mineralogist Count Lev Aleksevich von Perovski but was discovered and named by Gustav Rose in 1839 from samples found in the Ural Mountains. Faceted gems are somewhat rare and may only be of interest to collectors of the unusual or black or metallic gems.

Perovskite is an increasingly economically important mineral that is sought after for its rare earth metal content. Often Perovskite is enriched in cerium, niobium, thorium, lanthanum, neodymium and other rare earth metals. Rare earth metals are becoming rather attractive for prospectors due to their growing value to industry. The titanium derived from perovskite is recovered as well.

Perovskite crystals appear as cubes, but this is deceiving because it is actually pseudocubic (or "falsely shaped" in a loose translation from the Greek). It is really orthorhombic in symmetry, but its structure is very close to isometric. Perovskite crystal specimens may look like darkly colored Galena cubes, but Galena has better metallic luster, greater density and perfect cleavage.

There are many localities for Perovskite. Large crystals at the Akhmatovsk mines, near Zlatoust, Ural Mountains, and from the Lovozero massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. At Norrvik, and on Aln¨o Island, Sweden. From Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland. At Schelingen and Vogtsberg, Kaiserstuhl, Baden-W¨urttemberg; Oberwiesenthal, Saxony; and in the Eifel district, Germany. In Italy, from St. Ambrogio and the Val di Susa, Piedmont, and in the Val Malenco, Lombardy. At the Jacupiranga mine, S˜ao Paulo, Brazil. Large crystals from the Gardiner complex, beyond the head of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, Greenland. At Oka, Quebec, Canada. In the USA, from the Crestmore quarry, Riverside County, and near the Gem mine, San Benito County, California; in a large deposit in the Iron Hill carbonatite, Gunnison County, Colorado; at Magnet Cove, Hot Spring County, Arkansas.
 

  
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