SZAIBÉLYITE

    Class : Carbonates, nitrates, borates
    Subclass : Borates
    Crystal system : Monoclinic
    Chemistry : MgBO2(OH)
    Rarity : Uncommon


Szaibélyite (formerly called camsellite) is a magnesium borate forming a series with sussexite, its manganese equivalent. It is a fairly widespread mineral in various contexts having in common the presence of large quantities of magnesium and boron : skarns, metamorphic dolomites and limestones, serpentinites, salt deposits. It was named in honor of the Mining Engineer Stephen Szaibely who discovered the mineral. Szaibélyite can be massive, constituting chalky or powdery nodules, but more commonly forms white to straw-yellow fibers, which can reach a metric size ! It is an occasional boron ore.

Main photo : Szaibelyite from Brosso Mine, Piedmont, Italy © Henry Minot

Szaibélyite in the World

Extraordinary fibers of more than one meter have been discovered in the Moroccan cobalt deposit of Bou-Azzer. Szaibélyite is also very abundant in Fengcheng (Liaoning, China) where it is mined as a boron ore, and in Douglas Lake (British Columbia, Canada). It is also known in coatings and impregnations in the serpentinites of Stinson Beach (California), and in evaporites, such as the salt dome of Klodowa (Poland), and in Clark County (Alabama).

Right photo : Szaibelyite from Dypingdal serpentinites, Norway © Knut Eldjarn


Szaibélyite in France

In France, szaibélyite is described at the Costabonne mines (Pyrénées-Orientales).

Twinning

Twinning is known on {100}.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.



Hardness : 3 to 3.5
Density : 2.62
Fracture : Fibrous
Streak : White


TP : Translucent to transparent
RI : 1.530 to 1.740
Birefringence : 0.020 to 0.070
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None


Solubility : Acids

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

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