Welcome to the wonderful world of minerals
  • No products in the cart.

Shop

Colemanite Crystal Mineral Specimen

$110.00

Drusy colemanite is one of the four borate ores that are mined in California.

COLEMANITE: Colemanite, a hydrous calcium borate, forms in evaporite deposits and is one of the major borate ores. Well-developed, sharply pointed crystals with complex face arrangements make attractive mineral specimens that are widely collected.

Size: 3″ X 5″

Locality: Boron, Kerns County, California, USA

Collection of : Milton L. Speckels

SKU: COL5.

Out of stock

Share this

Colemanite Crystal Mineral Specimen

COLEMANITE

HISTORY, NAME, LOCALITIES: Colemanite, pronounced COLE-man-ite, was identified as a new mineral species in 1881 and named for William Tell Coleman, an American merchant and borax miner of the period.  Colemanite is collected in Chile, Turkey, Argentina, and the United States (California, Nevada).

MINERALOGY, PROPERTIES, OCCURRENCE: Colemanite [hydrous calcium borate, Ca2B6O11•5H2O] crystallizes in the monoclinic system as short, prismatic or equant crystals, and in massive, compact, drusy, and incrusting forms.  It is usually colorless or white, but may exhibit pale shades of brown and yellow.  Colemanite has a Mohs hardness of 4.5, a vitreous-to-dull luster, perfect cleavage in one direction, an uneven fracture, and a specific gravity of 2.4.  Colemanite occurrences are restricted to evaporite-type, chemical-sedimentary rocks; it forms from the repetitive evaporation of aqueous solutions of mixed borates in closed, saline lakes.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES, LORE, USES:  Because of its softness and solubility in water, colemanite has no use in jewelry.  It is occasionally faceted into collectors’ gems.  Colemanite is one of the four major borate ores that are mined extensively in California for use in detergents, disinfectants, soaps, paints, medicinal compounds, and coated papers.  For metaphysical purposes, colemanite is believed to aid relaxation and help those who use their energies in an overly focused manner to assess situations from a broader perspective.

COLLECTORS’ INFORMATION:  Well-developed, sharply pointed colemanite crystals with complex face arrangements make attractive mineral specimens for display purposes.

SKU: COL5

Reviews

Write a review

There are no reviews yet.