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Friedelite
Current inventory:  1 gem
 

Chemistry:  (Mn,Fe)₈Si₆O₁₅(OH,Cl)₁₀

Discovered in 1876;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).
Friedelite is named after the French chemist and minerologist Charles Friedel (1832-1899).

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Silicates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

8/H.28-70

8 : Silicates
H : Phyllosilicates (layered), Tetragonal or pseudotetragonal layered structures [Si4O10]4- and others
28 : Pyrosmalite series

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Monoclinic - Prismatic

Crystal Habit:

Monoclinic, pseudohexagonal. As pseudohexagonal tablets, may be hemimorphic, to 1 cm; more rarely as slender needles or as fibrous or lamellar aggregates; stalactitic, massive, cryptocrystalline. Twinning: Universal, pseudorhombohedral symmetry.

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

Perfect on [010]

Fracture:

Uneven

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.0 - 5.5

Density:

3.04 - 3.07 (g/cm³)

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Pale pink, pinkish red, brownish red, dark red, brown

Transparency:

Translucent to Transparent

Luster:

Vitreous, pearly

Refractive Index:

1.630 - 1.660  Biaxial

Birefringence:

0.030

Dispersion:

n/a

Pleochroism:

n/a

Occurances

Geological Setting:

In metamorphosed Mn-Fe deposits.

Type Locality:

Montagne d'Azet, Aderville, Louron Valley, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France

Year Discovered:

1876

View mineral photos:

Friedelite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Friedelite is a rare mineral and mostly found as opaque material prized for its colorful luminescense under UV light. Facetable crystals are very small and so, gems are small and very rare. Gems are a beautiful, sleepy red. Franklin, New Jersey is the main source of facetable material.
 

  
Friedelite gems for sale: