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Serendibite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Serendibite

Chemistry:  Ca2(Mg,Al)6(Si,Al,B)6O20

Discovered in 1902;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).

The name is from the old Arabic name, Serendib, for Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Silicates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

8/F.14-60

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

9.DH.40

 

9 : SILICATES (Germanates)
D : Inosilicates
H : Inosilicates with 4-periodic single chains, Si
4O12

Related to:

Aenigmatite Group: Aenigmatite, Høgtuvaite, Makarochkinite, Rhönite, Welshite, Wilkinsonite

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Triclinic - Pinacoidal

Crystal Habit:

Rarely in small tabular crystals; as anhedral grains, to 2 cm, and aggregates.

Twinning:

Polysynthetic on [011], common

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

[001] Good, [010] Good

Fracture:

Uneven, Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Hardness (Mohs):

6.5 - 7.0

Density:

3.42 - 3.52 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

Grayish Blue-Green to deep Blue, Green, Brown or Black; in transmitted light, nearly Colorless to pale Yellow-Green or Blue

Transparency:

Transparent, Translucent, Opaque

Luster:

Vitreous

Refractive Index:

1.701 - 1.706  Biaxial ( + )

Birefringence:

0.0050

Dispersion:

r > v; Strong to extremely Strong, may produce abnormal interference colors

Pleochroism:

Strong; X = pale yellow, yellow-green to blue-green; Y = almost colorless, pale yellow, blue, blue-green; Z = light to dark blue

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

In skarns, affected by boron metasomatism, along the contact between carbonate rocks and granite, tonalite, or granulite.

Common Associations:

Apatite, Calcite, Clinozoisite, Diopside, Forsterite, Grandidierite, Graphite, Hyalophane, Pargasite, Phlogopite, Scapolite, Sinhalite, Spinel, Tremolite, Uvite, Warwickite

Type Locality:

Gangapitiya, Ambakotte, Central Province, Sri Lanka

Year Discovered:

1902

View mineral photos:

Serendibite Mineral Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

 

 


Serendibite is a very rare gem that comes in colors of dark blue, blue green, light yellow and black. Most facetable crystals are very dark blue to opaque black. Although Serendibite is found in several locations around the world, the only current gem sources are
Mogok, Sagaing District, Mandalay Division, Burma (Myanmar) and  Gangapitiya, near Ambakotte, Sri Lanka. Other minor (and usually non-gem) sources are on the Melville Peninsula, Northwest Territories, Canada. In Russia, in the Tayozhnoye iron deposit, 550 km south of Yakutsk, Yakutia. From the Handeni district, Tanzania. At Ianapera and Ihosy, Madagascar. In the USA, from near Johnsburg, Warren County, Amity, near Warwick, Orange County, and Russell, St. Lawrence County, New York; and in the New City quarry, three km south of Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA.
 

  
Serendib
ite gems for sale:

We have not photographed the Serendibite gems. Please check back soon.
 

 

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