Mineral Collection Images

My Mineral Collection, Systematic Cyclosilicates Page

In cyclosilicates, often called "ring silicates", the silicate tetrahedrons can occur in 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 12 (two sixes stacked together) member rings. Because of the cyclosilicates' hardness, range of colors, and (often) transparency, a lot of them are used as gems.
Cyclosilicates on Other Pages
See my gemstones page for benitoite, beryl, sugilite, and tourmaline. Chrysocolla, dioptase, and papagoite are on my copper minerals page. Margarosanite's on my lead minerals page. There's more eudialyte on my inosilicates page.
Specimens on This Page (links take you to either the first or only specimen)
baratovite, brannockite catapleiite, cordierite eudialyte (including a beautiful individually-crystallized miniature!) and (varieties niobian eudialyte and two kakortokites) ferroaxinite gaidonnayite joaquinite kainosite labuntsovite magnesio-axinite, milarite, murmanite nenadkevichite osumilite petarasite sekaninaite taramellite, tinzenite, titantaramellite, traskite verplanckite wadeite, walstromite

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11 Rows
Baratovite A nice miniature of baratovite (a complex calcium titanium zirconium fluorosilicate) with aegirine and miserite from the type locality of the Dara-i-Pioz Glacier, Alayskiy (Alai) Range, Tien Shan Mountains, Tajikistan. Thanks to Dru Wilbur's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Brannockite Brannockite's another member of the osumilte group - this thumbnail from the type locality of the Foote Mine, Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina has colorless hexxagonal prisms with pinacoidal terminations. It's a potassium tin lithium silicate Thanks to Rick Dillinger's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Catapleiite Catapleiite's a rare sodium-zirconium silicate (and dimorphic with gaidonnayite) - the best specimens (like this one) come from Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. Thanks to Shields Flynn at Trafford | Flynn for the specimen and the image!
Row 2
Catapleiite Another Mont St. Hilaire catapleiite. Thanks to Arnaldo Brunetti's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Cordierite Cordierite's one of the most obvious pleichroic minerals - one of its early names was dichroite. The closeup of this Madagascaran specimen shows the straw and violet colors at the ends of a 90° rotation. It's also called iolite and water sapphire in the jewelry trade. Thanks to Alexander Falster's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Cordierite Here's a thumbnail cleavage fragment of cordierite from Coroaci, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Thanks to Tony Nikischer at the Excalibur Mineral Company for the specimen!
Row 3
Eudialyte This massive eudialyte comes from Kipawa, Villedieu Township, Témiscamingue County, Québec, Canada. There's enough zirconium in eudialyte (9%) and enough eudialyte that it may be a future source of this strategically important metal. It's also one end of a two-member series with alluaivite and heads the eudialyte group: kentbrooksite, khomyakovite, manganokhomyakovite, and oneillite. Thanks to Chris Wright at Wright's Rock Shop for the specimen and the image!	Eudialyte A beautiful miniature of eudialyte, also from Kipawa.	Eudialyte A big miniature of bright eudialyte from Kipawa. The group that collects eudialyte from Kipawa is not planning to return anytime soon. Thanks to John & Maryanne Fender's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row
Eudialyte A beautiful and rare miniature of gemmy eudialyte crystals! in a vug from Mont St. Hilaire, Québec, Canada. Thanks to Frank P. Butler's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!	Eudialyte, var. Niobian Eudialyte A miniature of dark reddish-brown niobium-rich (replacing some of the zirconium) eudialyte in matrix from Brevik, Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway. Thanks to Thomas Bee's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Eudialyte, var. Kakortokite A beautiful small cabinet polished slab of eudialyte from N'orkpakhk Mt, Khibiny Massif, Kola Peninsula, Murmanskaja Oblast', Northern Region, Russia. This material comprising black arfvedsonite, off-white nepheline syenite, and eudialyte grains is called kakortokite (after Kakortok in Greenland). Thanks to Mirek Dorejko's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!
Row 4
Eudialyte, var. Kakortokite Sometimes in kakortokite, the white nepheline syenite becomes the backdrop for individual eudialyte and arfvedsonite crystals, as in this beautiful miniature from the Ilimaussaq Complex in Greenland - the type locality for eudialyte. Thanks to Peter Lindberg's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!	Ferroaxinite Small but nice ferroaxinite (a calcium iron aluminum hydroxyborosilicate) blades from the Jensen Quarry, Riverside, California. Since ferroaxinite is by far the most common of the axinite group, most collectors just call them axinite. Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!	Ferroaxinite An excellent specimen full of ferroaxinite blades from the Verchniy Mine, Primorski Krai, Dalnegorsk, Russia.
Row 5
Ferroaxinite I have two ferroaxinites from the Pampa Blanca Mine, near Pisco, Ica, Peru - I love the color and the intense trichroism. Thanks to Anne & Charles Steuart's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!	Ferroaxinite A single ferroaxinite crystal thumbnail from Riverside County, California. Thanks to Doug Wahl's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Ferroaxinite A beautiful ferroaxinite crystal thumbnail from the original find at the New Melones Dam, Calaveras County, California. Thanks to Val Collins' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!
Row 6
Gaidonnayite Sharp crystals of gaidonnayite (a sodium zirconium triple-ring silicate and dimorph of catapleiite) on matrix comprise this large thumbnail from the co-type locality of the Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Québec, Canada. It forms an incomplete series with georgechaoite where potassium replaces some of the sodium. Thanks to Val Collins' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Joaquinite-(Ce) Tiny golden-brown crystals of joaquinite-(Ce) (a hydrated cerium barium niobium iron titanium fluorohydroxysilicate) on matrix from (probably) the Dallas Gem Mine in San Benito County, California. It's dimorphic with Joaquinite-(Ce). Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen!	Kainosite-(Y) This thumbnail has a nice sharp, pinkish, 3 mm. x 3 mm. crystal of kainosite-(Y) (a hydrated yttrium calcium cerium carbonate-silicate) from a roadcut during the cutting back to alleviate rock slides on Route 30, northwest of Long Lake, Hamilton County, New York. Thanks to Val Collins' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!
Row 7
Labuntsovite-Mn Labuntsovite is in the same group as nenadkevichite - it's a complex titanosilicate with nine other metallic cations in its composition. This thumbnail from the Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada has, in addition to the red labuntsovite (larger image, center panel), gray sodalite and micro pyrite cubes (larger image, bottom panel). There are three labuntsovites; Labuntsovite-Fe, Labuntsovite-Mg, and Labuntsovite-Mn - this is probably the manganian member, it's the only one that MinDat lists at MSH. Thanks to Emilie & Ron Kendig's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Magnesio-axinite My other axinites are ferroaxinites (the most common) - this one, because of its pale color, may be magnesio-axinite. It's from the Pampa Blanca Mine, Ica, Peru and has epidote scattered about. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Milarite This pale lime green milarite (a member of the osumilite group) comes from Jaguaracu pegmatite, Jaguaracu, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Thanks to Richard Dale at Dale Minerals International for the specimen and the image!
Row 8
Milarite Occasionally, milarite is clean enough to facet - this pale yellow prism is from the type locality of Val Giuv (Val Milar), Rueras, Val Tavetsch, Grischun (Grisons; Graubünden), Switzerland. Thanks to Sharon Cisneros at the Mineralogical Research Company for the specimen and the image!	Murmanite A small cabinet specimen of submetallic purple plates of rare murmanite (a hydrated titanium niobium sodium four-ring silicate) in matrix from Mt. Rasvumtschorr, Chibiny, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Thanks to Steve & Susan Bringe's (Summit Minerals) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Nenadkevichite Nenadkevichite is a hydrated niobium titanium hydroxysilicate - this thumbnail, with small rhodochrosite crystals, comes from the famous Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Québec, Canada. Like labuntsovite, its structure is a four-membered silicate ring and it forms a complete series with korobitsynite where titanium predominates. Thanks to Tim Jokela, Jr. at Element 51 for the specimen!
Row 9
Osumilite Black pinacoidally-terminated hexagonal prisms of osumilite are scattered on the matrix of this miniature from Monte Arci, Marrubiu, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It forms a series with Osumilite-(Mg). Thanks to Debra Zakarin's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Petarasite Tiny pink clusters of petarasite (a hydrated zirconium sodium six-ring hydroxychlorosilicate) from the type locality of Mont St. Hilaire, Québec, Canada. Thanks to Arnaldo Brunetti's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Sekaninaite Midnight blue sekaninaite from near the type locality of Dolni Bory in Western Moravia, Czechoslovakia. It's a close chemical cousin of beryl and could be used as a gemstone. It forms a series with cordierite (iron replaces some of the magnesium). Thanks to SoCal Nevada's auction on eBay for the specimen and images!
Row 10
Taramellite Tiny brown crystals of taramellite (a complex barium iron titanium borosilicate) on matrix from Big Creek, Fresno County, California. It forms a complete series with titantaramellite; the iron and titanium switch predominance. This miniature is from the Jack Streeter Collection. Thanks to Jan Garland's (Fine Rocks) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Tinzenite A beautiful large thumbnail of orange tinzenite (a calcium aluminum manganese iron silicate) flowers on quartz from the Molinello Mine, Graveglia Valley, Ne, Genova Province, Liguria, Italy. It forms a series with manganaxinite where the iron is completely replaced by manganese. Thanks to Marcelo Behar's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!	Tinzenite A beautiful sawn endcut miniature of massive tinzenite showing a somewhat radiating structure from the Cassagna Mine near Chiavari in the Graveglia Valley, Ne, Genova Province, Liguria, Italy. Ex: P. A. Foster, MD Collection (Los Angeles, CA) and Ex: Harold E. Eales Collection, #1291 ($4). Thanks to Tony Nikischer at the Excalibur Mineral Company for the specimen!
Row 11
Titantaramellite Dark brown titantaramellite crystal fragments in matrix comprise this micro from the co-type locality of the Esquire No. 7 claim, Big Creek, Rush Creek deposit, Fresno County, California. It forma a complete series with taramellite where the ferric iron predominates. Thanks to Csanad Loranth's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!	Traskite An excellent miniature of red-brown traskite (a very complex hydrated barium 12-membered-ring silicate) in matrix from the type locality of Fresno County, California. Thanks to Jonathan Green's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Verplanckite Like my taramellite, this orange verplanckite (a complex barium manganese iron silicate) on sanbornite matrix also came from the Big Creek, 5 miles NE of Trimmer, Fresno County, California (its co-type locality). Once considered a zeolite, it's now grouped here with the cyclosiliciates. Thanks to Jan Garland's (Fine Rocks) auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 12
Wadeite A beautiful thumbnail of lavendar wadeite (a potassium zirconium three-ring silicate) crystals on matrix, collected in the 1990s from Lovozero, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Synthetic wadeite has been used as the solid electrolyte in a novel hydrogen sensor (US Patent #4,976,991) - this gas sensor [presumably] operates near room temperature with a "very short" response time, unlike traditional semiconductor hydrogen gas sensors which are operated at several hundred degrees C and have a "very long" response time. Thanks to Jonathan Levinger's (Jonathan's Mineral Exchange) auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Walstromite A miniature of pearly white crystals of walstromite (a barium calcium three-ring silicate) in matrix from the Rush Creek area, Fresno County, California. They're hard to see, but their pinkish-orange fluorescence (under both longwave and shortwave) helps them show up (larger image, lower left). Thanks to Tony Nikischer's Excalibur Mineral Company auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

maintained by: Alan Guisewite

Last Update 27 Feb 2011