Petalite from Minas Gerais State, Brazil (size: 3x4 cm)
General
Category
Tektosilicate
Formula (repeating unit)
LiAlSi4O10
IMA symbol
Ptl[1]
Strunz classification
9.EF.05
Crystal system
Monoclinic
Crystal class
Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Space group
P2/a
Unit cell
a = 11.737 Å, b = 5.171 Å, c = 7.63 Å; β = 112.54°; Z = 2
Identification
Color
Colorless, grey, yellow, pink, to white
Crystal habit
Tabular prismatic crystals and columnar masses
Twinning
Common on {001}, lamellar
Cleavage
Perfect on {001}, poor on {201} with 38.5° angle between the two
Fracture
Subconchoidal
Tenacity
Brittle
Mohs scale hardness
6–6.5
Luster
Vitreous, pearly on cleavages
Streak
Colorless
Diaphaneity
Transparent to translucent
Specific gravity
2.4
Optical properties
Biaxial (+)
Refractive index
nα = 1.504, nβ = 1.510, nγ = 1.516
Birefringence
δ = 0.012
2V angle
82–84° measured
Melting point
1350 °C[2]
Fusibility
5
Solubility
Insoluble
References
[3][4][5][6]
Petalite, also known as castorite, is a lithium aluminum tektosilicate mineral LiAlSi4O10, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Petalite occurs as colorless, pink, grey, yellow, yellow grey, to white tabular crystals and columnar masses. It occurs in lithium-bearing pegmatites with spodumene, lepidolite, and tourmaline. Petalite is an important ore of lithium, and is converted to spodumene and quartz by heating to ~500 °C and under 3 kbar of pressure in the presence of a dense hydrous alkali borosilicate fluid with a minor carbonate component.[7] Petalite (and secondary spodumene formed from it) is lower in iron than primary spodumene, making it a more useful source of lithium in, e.g., the production of glass. The colorless varieties are often used as gemstones. [citation needed]
^"Petalite". Digital Fire. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
^Anthony, John W.; Bideaux, Richard A.; Bladh, Kenneth W.; Nichols, Monte C. (2005). "Petalite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineral Data Publishing. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^Webmineral
^Petalite, Mindat.org
^*Hurlbut, Cornelius S. and Klein, Cornelis, 1985, Manual of Mineralogy, Wiley, 20th ed., pp. 459–460 ISBN 0-471-80580-7
^Deer, W. A. (2004). Framework silicates: silica minerals, feldspathoids and the zeolites (2. ed.). London: Geological Soc. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-86239-144-4.
Petalite, also known as castorite, is a lithium aluminum tektosilicate mineral LiAlSi4O10, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Petalite occurs as...
Japanese cuisine, and in the case of semi-stoneware Banko ware of high petalite content. Often, the food is cooked at the table on a gas burner for various...
tectosilicate mineral Nepheline – Silica-undersaturated aluminosilicate mineral Petalite – Silicate mineral, used in ceramic glazing Sodalite Group Hauyne – Silicate...
greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral...
discovered the element lithium in 1817, during analysis of the mineral petalite. The actual isolation of lithium metal would be done by others. In 1818...
with the more commercially important lithium minerals, lepidolite and petalite. Within the pegmatites, the large grain size and the strong separation...
granite pegmatites and aplites. Associated minerals include: quartz, albite, petalite, eucryptite, lepidolite and beryl. Transparent material has long been used...
of cordierite. Nepheline syenite increases the dissolution of silica. Petalite promotes the formation of cristobalite. Alumina can react with silica to...
the twin of Castor on the grounds that it is often found associated with petalite (previously known as castorite). The high caesium content was missed by...
serves as a small trading centre in a tobacco and mix farming region. Petalite, Tantalite and tungsten ores are mined in the area. 18°58′S 32°22′E /...
laboratory of Berzelius, detected the presence of a new element while analyzing petalite ore. This element formed compounds similar to those of sodium and potassium...
technique, demonstrating the elements, and thus the salts, to be different. Petalite (LiAlSi4O10) was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist José Bonifácio...
large source of industrial minerals such as quartz, feldspar, spodumene, petalite, and rare lithophile elements. Carbonatites are an igneous rock whose volume...
T. Brande Arfwedson, a student of Berzelius, discovered the alkali in petalite. Brande isolated it electrolytically from lithium oxide. 48 Cadmium 1817...
occurrence is in lithium-rich pegmatites in association with albite, spodumene, petalite, amblygonite, lepidolite and quartz. It occurs as a secondary alteration...
Northwest Territory Metis Nation. Avalon is also developing a lithium (petalite) deposit, located 70 km north of Kenora in Ontario, Canada. The Separation...
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