Click on a letter above to view the list of gems.    

  

 


Wardite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Wardite

  
Wardite is named
after Henry Augustus Ward (1834-1906), Professor of Natural Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA. He was also a collector and founder of Ward's Natural Science Establishment in Rochester, which deals in natural history objects.

Discovered in 1896;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).

 

Chemistry

 

 

Chemical Formula:

NaAl3(PO4)2(OH)4·2(H2O)

 

Hydrated Sodium Aluminum Phosphate Hydroxide

Molecular Weight:

397.94 gm

Composition: 

Sodium

5.78 %

Na

7.79 %

Na2O

Aluminum

20.37 %

Al

38.43 %

Al2O3

Phosphorus

15.57 %

P

35.67 %

P2O5

Hydrogen

2.03 %

H

18.11 %

H2O

Oxygen

56.29 %

O

 

 

 

100.00 %

 

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

 

 

 

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Phosphates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

7/D.51-10

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

8.DL.10

 

8 : PHOSPHATES, ARSENATES, VANADATES
D : Phosphates, etc. with additional anions, with H
2O
L : With large and medium-sized cations, (OH, etc.):RO
4 = 2:1

Related to:

Wardite Group. Wardite - Millisite Series.

Synonyms:

Soumansite

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Tetragonal - Trapezohedral

Crystal Habit:

Crystals dipyramidal, pseudo-octahedral, exhibiting forms {010}, {011}, {012}, {100}, and rarely {001}. Commonly striated perpendicular to [001]. Granular aggregates and crusts; subparallel aggregates of coarse fibers; radially-fibrous and concentrically banded spherulites.

Twinning:

None

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

[001] Perfect

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.0

Density:

2.81 - 2.87 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Other:

Completely soluble in acids with difficulty.

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

White, Colorless, pale Green, Blue-Green, Yellow-Green, pale Yellow, Brown; Colorless in transmitted light

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Vitreous

Refractive Index:

1.586 - 1.604  Uniaxial ( + )

Birefringence:

0.0090 - 0.0100

Pleochroism:

None

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

A component of low-temperature phosphatic nodules; an uncommon species in complex zoned pegmatites.

Common Associations:

Crandallite, Millisite, Variscite (Little Green Monster mine, Utah, USA); Eosphorite, Fairfieldite, Ferrisicklerite, Hydroxyl-Herderite, Mitridatite, Montgomeryite, Roscherite, Siderite, Whitlockite (pegmatites).

Type Locality:

Clay Canyon, Fairfield, Oquirrh Mts, Utah Co., Utah, USA

Year Discovered:

1896

View mineral photos:

Wardite Mineral Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

 

 


Wardite is a rare, little known and unusual
Phosphate mineral. Unusual in that it is one of only a few minerals that is known to belong to the tetragonal - trapezohedral class. Two of the other gem type minerals in this class are Ekanite and Mellite. Massive green Wardite is commonly associated with Variscite nodules in Utah, USA.

There a several localities for finding Wardite but only a few that could produce gem quality crystals. These include the Feldspar quarry, Wolfsberg Mt., Spittal, Millstatt lake ridge, Carinthia, Austria; Ilha claim (Lavra da Ilha), Taquaral, Itinga, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil; Rapid Creek, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory, Canada; the Little Green Monster mine, Clay Canyon, about nine km west of Fairfield, Utah County, Utah, USA; Palermo No. 1 Mine (Palermo #1 pegmatite), Groton, Grafton County, New Hampshire, USA.
 

  
Wardite
gems for sale:

We have not photographed our Wardite gems. Please check back soon.
 

 

I love Sarah