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Kamacite (a nickel-rich variety of Iron)
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Kamacite (Iron Octahedrite)

  
Kamacite is named from the Greek "kamask" meaning "shaft" or "lath" in allusion to its typical patterns. Iron is named from an Old English word for the metal. The chemical symbol "Fe" is from the Latin "ferrum".

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

 

Chemistry

 

 

Chemical Formula:

alpha-(Fe,Ni)

 

Elemental Iron-Nickel

Molecular Weight:

56.13 gm

Composition:

Iron

89.54 %

Fe

 

 

 

Nickel

10.46 %

Ni

 

 

100.00 %

 

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

 

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Elements

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

1/A.07-20

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

1.AE.05

 

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
A : Metals and Intermetallic Alloys
E : Iron-chromium family

Related to:

Iron-Nickel Group.

Varieties:

Kamacite, Taenite

Synonyms:

Iron Octahedrite

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Isometric - Hexoctahedral

Crystal Habit:

As plates and lamellar masses and in regular intergrowth with Taenite. May occur in crystals, to 30 cm; in extended plates and ribbons in Widmanstätten bands.

Twinning:

None

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

{???} Indistinct

Fracture:

Hackly - Jagged, torn surfaces, (e.g. fractured metals).

Tenacity:

n/a

Moh's Hardness:

4.0

Density:

7.90 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Other:

Magnetic

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

Steel-Gray to iron-Black

Transparency:

Opaque

Luster:

Metallic

Refractive Index:

n/a

Birefringence:

0.00  (Isotropic)

Dispersion:

Distinct; r > v

Pleochroism:

None

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

A major constituent of iron meteorites (siderites) and present in varying amounts in most other meteorites except certain of the stony meteorites (aerolites).

Common Associations:

Taenite, Graphite, Cohenite, Moissanite, Schreibersite, Troilite, Daubréelite, Oldhamite, other meteorite minerals

Common Impurities:

Co, C, P, S

Type Locality:

Possibly: Disko Island, Uivfaq, Blaafjeld, Greenland

Year Discovered:

1861

View mineral photos:

Kamacite Mineral Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org 
Webmineral.com 

 

 


Kamacite is a nickel-rich variety of iron and is the principle constituent of a typical iron octahedrite meteorite. Iron found on Earth is mostly in the form of meteorites that have impacted the Earth's surface. There are very few sources of "native" iron. A few rare terrestrial gabbros (intrusive igneous rocks) and sulfide deposits do contain elemental iron-nickel deposits. These are the only truly native iron-nickel sources.

All natural iron, whether it is native or meteoritic, is actually an alloy of iron and nickel. The two elements are combined in varying percentages from less than 6% nickel to as much as 75% nickel, although iron is by far more common than nickel. Kamacite contains about 92% iron and 7% nickel. Another nickel-rich variety of iron meteorite is Taenite which typically contains about 25 - 40% iron.

Terrestrial occurrences of native iron are found at Blaafjeld, near Ovifak, Disko Island, Greenland; in Germany, from Bühl, near Weimar, Hesse; on the Putorana Plateau, Taimyr Peninsula, Russia. Iron meteorites are found worldwide.
 

  
Kamacite gems for sale:

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