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www.mineralgallery.co.za Minerals P-T |
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Name
Riebeckite
Chemistry
Na2Fe3 (2[Fe2]) (3[SiO22{OH}])
Uses
As a form of asbestos
Color
Grayish blue or grayish green
Hardness
5-6
Specific gravity
3.2
Crystals
Monoclinic with matted or radiating fibers up to 5 cm
Accompanied by:
Albite, apophyllite, calcite and pectolite
Similar to:
Tremolite and serpentine
Riebeckite is better known in it's asbestoses form crocidolite.
Crocidolite is found as a blue asbestoses that forms fibers up to 5 cm in length. In some circumstances the fibers have exceeded this length.
In South Africa where crocidolite has been mined very extensively a very interesting thing took place. The crocidolite was subjected to heat and presure and over time the original crocidolite has been replaced fiber by fiber with silica and the result has been the mineral tigers eye.The streak is grey.
It was named after a famous German explorer Emil Riebeck in 1888. The best way to recognise this mineral is by the fibrous habit that it displays.
