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Serendibite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

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, Si₄O₁₂

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.
 

  
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