Edingtonite - Encyclopedia

    Class : Silicates
    Subclass : Tectosilicates
    Crystal system : Orthorhombic
    Chemistry : BaAl2Si3O10 4H2O
    Rarity : Rare

Edingtonite is a rare barium zeolite that is found mainly in undersaturated alkaline rocks such as nepheline syenites and carbonatites, more rarely in basalt cavities and in hydrothermal veins. It was named in honor of the Scotsman James Edington who discovered the mineral. Its crystals are pseudo-tetragonal bipyramidal prisms, equant to elongated, usually a few millimeters, rarely centimeters. Edingtonite can also be pseudo-cubic. Edingtonite is usually white to colorless, sometimes pink or reddish.

Main photo : Edingtonite from the Ice River alkaline complex, British Columbia, Canada © Kelly Nash

Edingtonite from the Ice River alkaline complex, Canada © Elmar Lackner
Edingtonite from Jacupiranga, São Paulo, Brazil © Dario Cericola
Edingtonite from the Ice River alkaline complex, Canada © Gianfranco Ciccolini
6 cm edingtonite from Vretgruvan, Bölet, Sweden © Kelly Nash

Edingtonite in the World

Exceptional crystals, giant for the species, measuring 10 cm by 3 cm come from Böhlet (Sweden). The Canadian mine at Bathurst (New Brunswick) yielded crystals measuring 4.5 cm. Edingtonite is also known in the alkaline complexes of Khibiny (Kola, Russia), and Ice River, near Field (British Columbia, Canada), where it forms zoned crystals, as well as in the carbonatite of Jacupiranga (Brazil ). It is reported as a rarity at Mont St-Hilaire (Canada). Finally, the classic zeolite site of Old Kilpatrick (Scotland) provided the crystals which made it possible to define the species.

Edingtonite in France

Edingtonite is not present in the French underground.

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fake listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4 to 5
Density : 2.7
Fracture : Irregular
Streak : White

TP : Translucent to transparent
RI : 1.538 to 1.554
Birefringence : 0.016
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Acids


Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None

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