A
single Brazilianite crystal from Brazil.
CHEMISTRY - Na Al3(PO4)2(OH)4
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY - Monoclinic
CRYSTAL GROWTH AND HABITS - Crystals are prismatic equant with a tendency to taper to a spear like shape. It can also be radially fibrous or globular.
COLOR AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES - Commonly yellow to slightly greenish yellow to colorless and transparent.
HARDNESS - 5.5
SPECIFIC GRAVITY - 2.98
LUSTER - Vitreous
STREAK - White
BREAKABILITY - Good cleavage on {010} with a conchoidal fracture.
OCCURRENCE - Brazilianite forms as a hydrothermal mineral in the potassium rich zones of granitic pegmatites.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS - Muscovite, Quartz, Albite, Fluorapatite, Tourmaline, Whitlockite, Amblygonite.
MINERAL NAME - Named after the country of Brazil, where it was first found.