Axinite
Axinite is a brown to violet-brown, or reddish-brown bladed group of minerals composed of calcium aluminium boro-silicate,(Ca,Fe,Mn)3Al2BO3Si4O12OH. Axinite is pyroelectric and piezoelectric.
The axinite group includes:
- Axinite-(Fe) or ferroaxinite, Ca2Fe2+Al2BOSi4O15(OH) iron rich, clove-brown, brown, plum-blue, pearl-gray
- Axinite-(Mg) or magnesioaxinite, Ca2MgAl2BOSi4O15(OH) magnesium rich, pale blue to pale violet; light brown to light pink
- Axinite-(Mn) or manganaxinite, Ca2Mn2+Al2BOSi4O15(OH) manganese rich, honey-yellow, clove-brown, brown to blue
- Tinzenite (CaFe2+Mn2+)3Al2BOSi4O15(OH) iron – manganese intermediate, yellow, brownish yellow-green
Axinite is sometimes used as a gemstone.
Gallery
- Clove-brown axinite crystals to 2.3 cm set atop matrix from the West Bor Pit at Dalnegorsk, Russia
- Chloritized bladed crystals of axinite forming on adularia from the Swiss Alps
- Tinzenite on calcite, 4.5 × 3.5 × 3 cm. Wessels Mine, Kalahari manganese fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Manganaxinite (Axinite-(Mn)), with sharp curving crystals to 4 cm. West Bor Pit at Dalnegorsk, Russia