Apatite-(CaF) (Fluorapatite)
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Apatite is named from the Greek word apatein meaning to deceive or to be misleading because it was often confused with other more valuable minerals such as Peridot and Beryl. Fluorapatite is the fluorine analogue of Chlorapatite and Hydroxylapatite, the other members of the Apatite Group of minerals.

Discovered in 1860;   IMA status: Fluorapatite is Valid (Approved), Apatite is not Approved.

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

Ca₅(PO₄)₃F

Calcium Fluoro Phosphate

Molecular Weight:

504.30 gm

Composition:

Calcium

39.74 %

Ca

55.60 %

CaO

Phosphorus

18.43 %

P

42.22 %

P₂O₅

Oxygen

38.07 %

O

Fluorine

3.77 %

F

3.77 %

F

-  %

F

-1.59 %

-O=F₂

100.00 %

100.00 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Phosphates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

7/B.39-10

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

8.BN.05

8 : PHOSPHATES, ARSENATES, VANADATES
B : Phosphates, etc., with additional anions, without H₂O
N : With only large cations, (OH, etc.):RO₄ = 0.33:1

Related to:

Apatite Supergroup. Apatite Subgroup. The fluorine analogue of Chlorapatite and Hydroxylapatite. The phosphate analogue of Svabite. The Ca5 analogue of Belovite-(Ce), Belovite-(La), and Kuannersuite-(Ce).

Members of Supergroup:

Apatite Supergroup: Apatite Subgroup, Pyromorphite Subgroup, Svabite Subgroup

Members of Subgroup:

Apatite Subgroup: Carbonate-rich Fluorapatite, Carbonate-rich Hydroxylapatite, Chlorapatite, Fluorapatite, Fluorstrophite, Hydroxylapatite

Varieties:

Carbonate-rich Fluorapatite, Cuproapatite, Francolite, Holmbushite, Mn-bearing Apatite-(CaF), Saamite, Soda-Dehrnite, Staffelite, Strontian Apatite, Sulphatapatit

Synonyms:

Apatite-(CaF), Chlor-fluorapatite, Chrysolite d'Espagne, Crisolito de España, Fluor-apatite, Hydroxyl-fluorapatite, Mangualdite, Nauruite, Oxyapatite, Voelckerite

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Hexagonal - Dipyramidal

Crystal Habit:

As prismatic hexagonal crystals, elongated on [0001], dominated by {1010} and {1011}, to 2 m; as complex tabular to discoidal crystals flattened on {0001}, typically with many forms; granular, globular to reniform, nodular, massive.

Twinning:

Rare contact twins on {1121}. Twin plane {1013} rare. Also twinning reported on {1010} and {1123}.

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

Poor/Indistinct on {0001} and {1010}

Fracture:

Irregular/Uneven, Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.0 (a Mohs hardness reference species)

Density:

3.10 - 3.25 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

Often fluorescent and phosphorescent, especially the manganoan varieties. Strongly thermoluminescent at times.

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Sea-Green, Violet, Purple, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Brown, White, Colorless; may be zoned; colorless or faintly tinted in thin section.

Transparency:

Transparent to Opaque

Luster:

Vitreous to Sub-Resinous

Refractive Index:

1.631 - 1.646  Uniaxial ( - )

Birefringence:

0.0020

Dispersion:

Weak

Pleochroism:

Visible; Weak to Strong in colored crystals

Occurances

Geological Setting:

The most common rock-forming phosphate mineral. Accessory in most igneous rocks, important in syenites, alkaline rocks, carbonatites, granite pegmatites. Common in marbles and skarns, Ca-rich regional metamorphic rocks, Alpine-type fissures, and hydrothermal tin veins. An essential component of sedimentary phosphorites, common as a detrital or diagenetic component in oolitic ironstones and phosphatic carbonate rocks and shales. Residual in laterites.

Common Associations:

Diopside, Forsterite, Scapolite, Phlogopite, Chondrodite, Calcite, Magnetite.

Common Impurities:

OH, Cl, TR, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Y, Er, Mn

Type Locality:

Greifenstein Rocks, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

Year Discovered:

1860

View mineral photos:

Fluorapatite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Apatite is not a specific mineral name but a family of minerals including Fluorapatite, Chlorapatite and Hydroxylapatite. Fluorapatite is by far the most common of the three to be used for gemstones but is refered to simply as Apatite in the gem trade. It is difficult to tell the three apart and various amounts of Fl, Cl and OH are usually present in most mineral specimens although some have been determined to be close to 100% of one or the other. Apatite is fairly common througout the world and is the most common rock-forming mineral. It is also the main constituent of bones and teeth! Apatite is widely distributed in all rock types; igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic, but is usually just small disseminated grains or cryptocrystalline fragments. Large well formed crystals can be found in certain contact metamorphic rocks.Gem quality Apatite is found in a number of places around the world, including Burma, Brazil and Mexico. Neon blue-green Apatite from Madagascar is one of the rarest and most sought after colors of Apatite. Apatite is available in many other colors and is a magnificent gem when properly cut although too soft for most jewelry settings.

A few of the many localities for fine Apatite crystals include: at Ehrenfriedersdorf, Saxony, Germany. From Untersulzbachtal, Salzburg, Austria. At Panasqueira, Portugal. From near Pech, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. At Chumar Bakhoor, Nagar, Gilgit district, Pakistan. In Brazil, at the Morro Velho gold mine, Nova Lima, Minas Gerais. From Llallagua, Potosí, Bolivia. At Cerro de Mercado, Durango, Mexico. From the Pulsifer quarry, Mt. Apatite, Auburn, Androscoggin County, Maine, USA. In Canada, large crystals from southeastern Ontario, as in Renfrew Co., and in adjoining southwestern Quebec, as in Ottawa County, etc. An important ore in carbonatites; in Russia, in the Khibiny and Kovdor massifs, Kola Peninsula; from the Slyudyanka region, Lake Baikal, eastern Siberia. At Phalaborwa, Transvaal, South Africa. From the Jacupiranga mine, São Paulo, and at Tapira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In the Mt. Weld carbonatite, 35 km south of Laverton, Western Australia.
  

  
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