Lepidolite

Lepidolite is the name for a rather infrequent, unspecified mixed crystal of the mineral series polylithionite - Trilithionite within the group of mica with the general chemical composition K (Li, Al) 3 [( F, OH ) 2 | (Si, al ) 4O10 ].

Lepidolite developed predominantly white, blue- violet to pink mineral aggregates in the form of closely superposed, scaly, flaky crystal plaques, which showed on the cleavage faces a bright pearly or spherical, racemose spherulites. The pink color is caused by a low level of Mn2 .

The minerals phlogopite and muscovite in particular look very similar to the lepidolite. Therefore, they are sometimes misleading assigned the synonym lepidolite.

Special Features

Some Lepidolithproben have Triboluminescence.

Etymology and history

The word comes from the Greek lepidolite λεπιδιον lepidion " scaly " and λίθος lithos "stone" and therefore means " scaly stone ".

Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff discovered spectroscopically in 1861, the alkali metal rubidium, which occurs as a replacement for a small proportion of potassium in lepidolite.

Education and Locations

Lepidolithe formed mainly by hydrothermal processes in Granitpegmatiten. It is rarer than the minerals spodumene and tourmaline and their varieties, but in nature usually occurs in paragenesis with them. More assemblages include quartz, Petalite and various feldspars.

Worldwide, lepidolite so far (as of 2010) are detected nearly 550 localities, so include Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctic, Argentina, Ethiopia, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Germany, Finland, France, French Guiana, Greenland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, North and South Korea, Madagascar, Macedonia, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Norway, Austria, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Zambia, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Spain Slovakia, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom ( UK), in the United States of America ( USA) and in Vietnam.

Structure

Lepidolite polytype crystallizes in monoclinic symmetry, which are called lepidolite -1M, lepidolite - 2M1, 2M2 lepidolite - and lepidolite - 3M2 and in trigonal symmetry with the name lepidolite - 3T.

Use

Due to its high proportion lepidolite lithium is used as the ore for the recovery of lithium.

When decorating element Lepidolithsteine ​​also find in the hobby use.