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Priceite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Priceite

Chemistry:  Ca2B5O7(OH)5·(H2O)  [Hydrated Calcium Borate Hydroxide]

Discovered in 1873;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).
Priceite is named for Thomas Price (1837-?), a San Francisco metallurgist who first analyzed the mineral. (see below for more name information)

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Borates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

5/H.16-10

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

6.EB.25

 

6 : BORATES
E : Pentaborates
B : Ino-pentaborates

Related to:

Priceite - Tertschite Series

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Monoclinic - Prismatic

Crystal Habit:

Crystals are platy with a rhombic outline, to 20 μm, aggregated in books; typically cryptocrystalline, nodular to massive.

Twinning:

None

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

[001] Perfect

Fracture:

Conchoidal, Irregular/Uneven

Tenacity:

Tough to Friable

Hardness (Mohs):

3.0 - 3.5

Density:

2.42 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Other:

Insoluble in water. Readily soluble in acids. Alters to Colemanite and Calcite.

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

White, Colorless in transmitted light.

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Porcelaneous to Earthy

Refractive Index:

1.571 - 1.594  Biaxial ( + )

Birefringence:

0.0210 - 0.0220

Dispersion:

Strong; r < v

Pleochroism:

None

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

Deposited from hot spring and solfataric deposits, also a component of borate-enriched evaporites; may be derived from colemanite.

Common Associations:

Aragonite, Calcite, Colemanite, Gypsum, Ulexite

Type Locality:

Chetko, Curry County, Oregon, USA

Year Discovered:

1873

View mineral photos:

Priceite Mineral Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

 

 

  
Priceite, also known as "Pandermite," is a white, marble-like mineral. Although it is now called Priceite, it was once known as Pandermite after the Panderma area (now called Bandirma) of Turkey. The material from the Panderma area was thought to be a type of marble and was used for carving statues. One of these statues was analyzed by French amateur chemist Desmazures in 1865 and found to be high in boran. This "Pandermite" was later described as a new calcium borate mineral species, published in 1877, but by that time the mineral Priceite from California, USA had already been described four years previously. So the name Priceite has precedence even though Pandermite was known earlier.

There are a mumber of Priceite localities including: in the USA, from eight km north of Chetco, Curry County, Oregon; in California, from a number of occurrences around Death Valley, as the Monte Blanco area, in Corkscrew Wash, and the Furnace Creek district, Inyo County From the Penobsquis and Salt Springs evaporite deposits, near Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. At Mesa del Almo, 13 km southeast of Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico. In Turkey, from the Sultan¸cayir borate deposit, Bursa Province, and in several deposits in the Bigadiç borate district, Balikesir Province. From the Inder borate deposit, Kazakhstan. At Meldon, Okehampton, Devon, England. From the Pöhla mine, Schwarzemberg, Saxony, Germany. At Radotin, Czech Republic.
 

  
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ite gems for sale:

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