Rossmanite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

  
Rossmanite is named after George R. Rossman (1944 - ), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, in recognition for his work on the spectroscopy of the tourmaline-group minerals (and many other mineral species).

Discovered in 1996; IMA status: Valid (IMA Approved 1998)

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

[](LiAl₂)Al₆(Si₆O₁₈)(BO₃)₃(OH)₄

Vacancy-dominant Lithium Aluminum Boro-Silicate Hydroxide

Molecular Weight:

923.75 gm

Composition:

Lithium

0.75 %

Li

1.62 %

Li₂O

Aluminum

23.37 %

Al

44.15 %

Al₂O₃

Silicon

18.24 %

Si

39.03 %

SiO₂

Boron

3.51 %

B

11.30 %

B₂O₃

Hydrogen

0.44 %

H

3.90 %

H₂O

Oxygen

53.69 %

O

100.00 %

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Silicates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

8/E.19-05

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

9.CK.05

9 : SILICATES (Germanates)
C : Cyclosilicates
K : [Si₆O₁₈]₁₂- 6-membered single rings, with insular complex anions

Related to:

Tourmaline Group.

Members of Group:

Tourmaline Group: Adachiite, Buergerite, Chromium-dravite, Chromo-alumino-povondraite, Darrellhenryite, Dravite, Elbaite, Feruvite, Fluor-buergerite, Fluor-dravite, Fluor-elbaite, Fluor-feruvite, Fluor-liddicoatite, Fluor-schorl, Fluor-tsilaisite, Fluor-uvite, Foitite, ICSD 85557, IMA1996-018, Liddicoatite, Luinaite-(OH), Magnesio-foitite, Maruyamaite, Olenite, Oxy-chromium-dravite, Oxy-dravite, Oxy-rossmanite, Oxy-schorl, Oxy-vanadium-dravite, PDF(76-1951), Povondraite, Rossmanite, Schorl, Tsilaisite, UM2000-64-SiO:BFeHKMg, Unnamed (Pb-dominant Tourmaline), Uvite, Vanadio-oxy-chromium-dravite, Vanadio-oxy-dravite, Vanadiumdravite

Varieties:

None

Synonyms:

None

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Trigonal - Ditrigonal Pyramidal

Crystal Habit:

Euhedral columnar crystals about 25 mm long and 5 mm thick, elongated along the c axis with striations parallel to c on the prism faces.

Twinning:

None

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

None

Fracture:

n/a

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

7.0

Density:

3.00 - 3.06 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Pink, pale-pink to colorless; colorless in thin slivers and in transmitted light

Transparency:

Opaque

Luster:

Vitreous

Refractive Index:

1.624 - 1.645  Uniaxial ( - )

Birefringence:

0.021

Dispersion:

n/a

Pleochroism:

n/a

Occurances

Geological Setting:

Lepidolite subtype pegmatite along the contact with a mica-schist zone

Common Associations:

Albite, Amblygonite-montebrasite, Apatite, Beryl, Biotite, Cassiterite, Elbaite, Lepidolite, Manganocolumbite, Schorl, Topaz

Common Impurities:

n/a

Type Locality:

Rožná pegmatite (Rozna; Roschna), Žďár nad Sázavou, Vysočina Region, Moravia (Mähren; Maehren), Czech Republic

Year Discovered:

1996

View mineral photos:

Rossmanite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Rossmanite is a relatively new Tourmaline species that was discovered in 1996 near Rožná, western Moravia, Czech Republic. It is named after George R. Rossman (1944 - ), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, in recognition for his work on the spectroscopy of the tourmaline-group minerals and many other mineral species. Rossmanite forms pink euhedral columnar crystals about 25 mm long and 5 mm thick. It is indistinguishable from the Rubellite variety of Elbaite that it often occurs with and requires identification by quantitative chemical analysis. One of the proven finds of Rossmanite occurs at the Tanco Mine, Bernic Lake, Lac-du-Bonnet area, Manitoba, Canada. The cabochon pictured above is from the Tanco Mine.

Locations for Rossmanite: the type locality at Rožná pegmatite (Rozna; Roschna), Žďár nad Sázavou, Vysočina Region, Moravia (Mähren; Maehren), Czech Republic. In Canada at the Tanco Mine, Bernic Lake, Lac-du-Bonnet area, Manitoba. In Italy at the Grotta d'Oggi Quarry, San Piero in Campo, Campo nell'Elba, Elba Island, Livorno Province, Tuscany. In the UK at the Dorothy China Clay Pit, Whitemoor, St Stephen-in-Brannel, St Austell District, Cornwall, England. Other minor localities also exist including in China, Germany, the Republic of Congo, Russia, Sweden, Tanzania, the United States, Vietnam, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia and Nigeria.
 

  
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