|
Click on a
letter above to view the list of gems. |
|
|
|
| Bromellite was named to
honor Magnus Bromelius, ennobled as von Bromell, (1679-1731),
Swedish
physician and paleontologist. (photo courtesy of Murray Burford
- sinhalite.com)
| Discovered
in 1925;
IMA
status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered) |
|
Composition: |
Beryllium |
36.03 % |
Be |
100.00 % |
BeO |
|
Oxygen |
63.97 % |
O |
|
|
|
|
100.00 % |
|
100.00 % |
= TOTAL OXIDE |
|
|
Classification
|
|
|
Mineral
Classification: |
Oxides
|
Strunz 8th
Ed. ID:
|
4/A.03-10
|
Nickel-Strunz 10th
Ed. ID:
|
4.AB.20
|
|
4 : OXIDES (Hydroxides, V[5,6] vanadates, arsenites, antimonites,
bismuthites, sulfites, selenites, tellurites, iodates) A : Metal:
Oxygen = 2:1 and 1:1 B : M:O = 1:1 (and up to 1:1.25); with small to
medium-sized cations only
|
Related
to: |
Simple
Oxides
|
Varieties: |
None
|
Synonyms: |
None
|
|
|
Crystal
Data
|
|
|
Crystallography:
|
Hexagonal
- Dihexagonal Dipyramidal
|
Crystal
Habit:
|
As
prismatic crystals, elongated along [0001], to 1 mm,
showing pyramidal hemimorphism, with {0001} and {1010}
well developed, {1011} small; may be tabular || {0001};
in randomly intergrown rosettelike aggregates; cleavage
fragments, to 10 cm.
|
Twinning:
|
None
|
|
|
Physical
Properties
|
|
|
Cleavage: |
Distinct
on {1010}
|
Fracture: |
None
|
Tenacity:
|
Brittle
|
Moh's
Hardness: |
9.0
|
Density:
|
3.01
- 3.03 (g/cm3)
|
Luminescence:
|
Fluorescent; fluoresces
yellowish white in both LW and SW UV; may also display
weak orange under SW UV. |
Radioactivity:
|
Not
Radioactive
|
Other: |
Pyroelectric
|
|
|
Optical
Properties
|
|
|
Color: |
White
to creamy White, Colorless
|
Transparency: |
Transparent
to Translucent
|
Luster: |
Vitreous
|
Refractive
Index: |
1.719
- 1.733 Uniaxial ( + )
|
Birefringence: |
0.0140
|
Dispersion: |
Strong
to moderate; r > v or r < v
|
Pleochroism: |
None
|
|
|
Occurances
|
|
|
Geological
Setting: |
In
hydrothermal calcite veins and veinlets in hematite
skarn and skarnized limestones (Långban, Sweden); in
vugs in natrolite, hydrothermally altered from nepheline,
in syenite pegmatite (Langesundsfjord, Norway). |
Common
Associations: |
Swedenborgite,
Richterite, Manganophyllite (Långban, Sweden); Natrolite,
Diaspore, Chamosite (Langesundsfjord, Norway). |
Common
Impurities: |
Al,
B, Ba, Ca, Fe, Mg, Si |
Type
Locality: |
Långban, Filipstad,
Värmland, Sweden |
Year
Discovered: |
1925
|
View
mineral photos: |
Bromellite
Mineral Photos and Locations |
|
|
More
Information
|
|
|
|
Mindat.org
Webmineral.com
|
|
|
Bromellite
is an extremely rare gem, possibly the rarest gemstone
in existance. At this time only 17 faceted Bromellite gems
are known to exist. One colorless Bromellite crystal
was found near Gilmala, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka in March 1999. It
was cut into 17 faceted gems. The largest 3 of the 17
gems weighed 2.80 ct, 1.92 ct and 0.68 ct. The remaining
14 gems were all below 0.50 ct in weight. The picture above is of a 0.41 ct Bromellite gem
that was one of the original 17 Bromellite gems (photo courtesy of Murray Burford
- sinhalite.com).
This one crystal
is the only known gem quality crystal
to be found to date. Gems & Gemology has described the three
largest stones cut from the Sri Lanka crystal in the
Fall 2002 issue, V.38 N.3 pages 250-251. Very
small Bromellite crystals have also been found in the Ural mountain area of Russia, but these are
all far too small to be faceted.
Bromellite
is an interesting mineral in that it is a simple oxide,
similar to Periclase (MgO),
Tenorite (CuO)
and Zincite
(ZnMnO),
and consists only of beryllium and oxygen (BeO). It
has a
Mohs hardness of 9 but a molecular weight of only 25.01
gm. Synthetic Bromellite crystals were made by the
flux method in the 1960's by Rockwell International of California. Their
proposed use was as heat sinks for semiconductors in electronics. Synthetic Bromellite has a thermal conductivity higher than Gold
and
close to that of Copper and could be confused with Diamond when using a thermal
tester.
Bromellite was first described in
1925 by Swedish scientist and artist Gregori Aminoff
(1883-1947) from skarn-like deposits in Långban, Filipstad,
Värmland, Sweden. Bromellite was named to
honor Swedish
physician and paleontologist Magnus Bromelius, ennobled as von Bromell, (1679-1731). According to Swedish
botanist and mycologist Elias Magnus Fries (1794-1878), von
Bromell was the first Swede to describe plant fossils. Particularly noteworthy among von
Bromell's scientific work is the "Lithographiae
Suecanæ Specimen Secundum" in 1727, considered one of the first
scientific works devoted exclusively to Swedish fossil and mineral
finds.
Also, in a geological treatise, von Bromell proposed a classification of minerals
according to their chemical composition.
Bromellite
distribution: the only location known for a (only one)
gem quality natrual crystal is near Gilmala, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka.
Non
gem quality crystals are found at these localtions: Långban,
Värmland, Sweden. In the Saga larvikite quarry, Tvedalen,
near Larvik, Norway. From the Izumrudnye district, Yekaterinburg
(Sverdlovsk), Ural Mountains, the Pitkäranta district,
Lake Ladoga, Karelia, and other less-well-defined localities
in Russia.
|
Bromellite
gems for sale:
We
do not have any Bromellite gems
in inventory at this time. Please
check back soon.
|
|