BROMELLITE

    Class : Oxides and hydroxides
    Subclass : Oxides
    Crystal system : Hexagonal
    Chemistry : BeO
    Rarity : Very rare

Bromellite is an extremely rare beryllium oxide. It is a primary hydrothermal mineral of manganiferous skarns and some calcite veins, and a secondary mineral of nepheline syenites, where it arises from nepheline alteration. It was named in honor of the Swedish physicist and mineralogist Magnus von Bromell. Bromellite occurs in hemimorphic prismatic crystals not exceeding 1 mm, sometimes grouped in irregular rosettes, or in cleavable masses measuring up to 10 cm.

Main photo : Bromellite from Långban Mine, Sweden © Marko Burkhardt

Bromellite in the World

The finest bromellite crystals are 1 mm transparent hexagonal prisms from the manganiferous skarns of the type locality : Långban Mine (Sweden). It is found in infra-millimetric rosettes in the nepheline syenites of the Saga 1 quarry (Norway) as well as in Pitkyaranta (Russia) where the crystals caught in the phlogopite can exceed 5 mm. It is also known in association with phenakites in the emerald mine of Izumrud (Russia).

Right photo : Bromellite in rosettes from the Saga 1 quarry, Sagåsen, Auenlandet, Porsgrunn, Vestfold og Telemark, Norway © LT. Ljostad

Bromellite in France

In France, bromellite has been described in a brucite marble from the mines of Costabonne (Pyrénées-Orientales).

Twinning

Twins are known on {111} for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fake identified for this mineral species.


Hardness : 9
Density : 3.01
Fracture : Conchoidal
Trace : White

TP : Translucent to transparent
RI : 1.705 to 1.733
Birefringence : 0.028
Optical character : Uniaxial +
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : White-yellow

Solubility : Sulfuric acid

Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None