Eitelite
Current inventory: 0 gems
 

  
Eitelite was named to honor Dr. Wilhelm Hermann Julius Eitel (1891–1979), founder and Director of the Institute of Silicate Research, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA, who first synthesized the compound.

Discovered in 1954; IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered)

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

Na₂Mg(CO₃)₂

Sodium Magnesium Carbonate

Molecular Weight:

190.30 gm

Composition:

Sodium

24.16 %

Na

32.57 %

Na₂O

Magnesium

12.77 %

Mg

21.18 %

MgO

Carbon

12.62 %

C

46.25 %

CO₂

Oxygen

50.44 %

O

100.00 %

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Carbonates (Nitrates)

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

5/B.05-10

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

5.AC.05

5 : CARBONATES (NITRATES)
A : Carbonates without additional anions, without H₂O
C : Alkali and alkali-earth carbonates

Related to:

None

Varieties:

None

Synonyms:

ICSD 100482, PDF 24-1227

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Trigonal - Rhombohedral

Crystal Habit:

As imperfect rhombohedral to pseudo-octahedral crystals, to 17 mm, composed of {1011}, {0112} and {0001}.

Twinning:

None

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

Excellent on {0001}; and another transverse to {0001}, conspicuous

Fracture:

Irregular/Uneven Conchoidal Fibrous Hackly Micaceous None observed Splintery Step-like Sub-Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

3.5

Density:

2.737 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Colorless, pale yellow to staw yellow

Transparency:

Transparent to translucent

Luster:

Vitreous

Refractive Index:

1.450 - 1.605  Uniaxial ( - )

Birefringence:

0.155

Dispersion:

n/a

Pleochroism:

None

Occurances

Geological Setting:

An authigenic mineral in dolomitic shale and bituminous marlstone (Utah, USA); from an alkaline igneous pluton (Khibiny massif, Russia).

Common Associations:

Reedmergnerite, Leucosphenite, Searlesite, Crocidolite, Shortite (Kermit Poulson No. 1 well, Utah, USA); Trona, Nahcolite, Shortite, Northupite (Mapco Shrine Hospital #1 well, Utah, USA).

Common Impurities:

n/a

Type Locality:

Carter Oil Company Kermit Poulson No. 1 Well, Duchesne County, Utah, USA

Year Discovered:

1954

View mineral photos:

Eitelite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Eitelite is an extremely rare carbonate mineral species found at only a very few localities worldwide. Although mindat.org lists several localities, the only sources of any samples seems to be in the US at the Mapco Shrine Hospital No. 1 well, Duchesne County, Utah and at the Westvaco Mine, Green River formation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Of these two locations only the Wesvaco Mine has produced crystals large enough to be faceted. The crystals from there are large and unprecedented for the species. They are also very attractive with colors of pale to straw yellow with translucence and vitreous luster. The Westvaco Mine crystals are a relatively new find first presented at the 2012 Tucson Gem and Mineral show.

Sodium magnesium carbonate (Eitelite) had been known from laboratory experiments long before it was found as a natural mineral. In 1851 De Sainte-Claire Deville found that the anhydrous double carbonate formed when heating a concentrated solution of sodium carbonate with magnesium bicarbonate to boiling point.

Natural Eitelite was first discovered in 1954 in a core sample from about 2,800 feet deep in the Carter Oil Company Kermit Poulson No. 1 Well, Duchesne County, Utah, USA and first analysed and described in 1955 by Charles Milton, J. M. Axelrod and F. S. Grimaldi. It was found in association with minerals such as Crocidolite, Searlesite and Shortite. Coincidentally, Shortite is another carbonate mineral that was also discovered in a well core sample.

Eitelite was named to honor Dr. Wilhelm Hermann Julius Eitel (1891–1979), founder and Director of the Institute of Silicate Research, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA, who first synthesized the compound. German born Eitel was among about 1,500 leading German scientists brought to the United States after World War II in Operation Paperclip, a postwar organization of scientific consultants whose task was to bring German scientists to America. He served as a consultant and research scientist for the U. S. Navy, and came to the University of Toledo in 1952 to establish the Institute of Silicate Research. The Institute has been renamed "The Eitel Institute for Silicate Research" in honor of the director emeritus. Dr. Eitel, who was proficient in twelve languages, was the author of numerous scientific articles and books. He had just completed volume 8 of his monograph series "Physical Chemistry of Silicates", when he died.

Eitelite distribution: in the USA, in Utah, from drill core in the Green River Formation, in Duchesne County, at the Kermit Poulson No. 1 well and abundant in large crystals in the Mapco Shrine Hospital #1 well; in the South Ouray well, Uintah County. In Canada at the Ekati Mine, Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories. From the Vuonnemiok River Valley, Khibiny massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. From Mahla Crater, Meidob Hills, South Darfur Wilayah, Sudan. At the Darai-Pioz Glacier, Alai Range, Tien Shan Mtn, Region of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan.
 

  
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