Leifite - Encyclopedia

    Class : Silicates
    Subclass : Tectosilicates
    Crystal system : Trigonal
    Chemistry : Na2(Si,Al,Be)7(O,OH,F)14
    Rarity : Very rare

Leifite is an extremely rare silicate of alkaline rock massifs and their pegmatites, known in only five deposits in the world. It was named in honor of the adventurer Leif Ericsson who discovered it in Greenland in 1982. Leifite forms strongly striated acicular crystals often grouped into spherical aggregates, colorless, white or slightly pink.

Main photo : Leifite de Poudrette quarry, Mont St-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada © Joachim Esche

Leifite from Poudrette quarry, Mont St-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada © Tony Peterson
Leifite from Poudrette quarry, Mont St-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada © Stephan Wolfsried
Leifite from Eveslogchorr Mt, Khibiny, Russia © Martin Slama
Leifite and rhodochrosite from Poudrette quarry, Mont St-Hilaire © Gianfranco Ciccolini

Leifite in the World

Exceptional acicular to fibrous crystals up to 5 cm, arranged in radiate or spherolitic aggregates and in rosettes were encountered with serandite in the pegmatite geodes of the alkaline syenite complex of Mont St-Hilaire (Canada). In addition to this deposit, leifite is present in particular in the pegmatite of the alkaline syenites of the Ilimaussaq massif, near Narssaq and Narssârssuaq (Greenland), and in those of the nepheline syenites of Lovozero and Khibiny (Kola, Russia).

Leifite in France

Leifite is not present in the French underground.

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes recorded for this mineral species.


Hardness : 6
Density : 2.57
Fracture : Irregular
Streak : White

TP : Translucent to transparent
RI : 1.511 to 1.522
Birefringence : 0.011
Optical character : Uniaxial +
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : -

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

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