TUGTUPITE

    Class : Silicates
    Subclass : Tectosilicates
    Crystal system : Tetragonal
    Chemistry : Na4AlBeSi4O12Cl
    Rarity : Very rare

Tugtupite is a very rare beryllium silicate, most often a beautiful carmine pink color. Its name comes from its discovery locality : Tugtup in the Ilimaussaq alkaline complex (Greenland). Tugtupite crystals are extremely rare, always millimeter-sized, and tugtupite mainly consists of small masses or fine-grained aggregates. It is shaped into art objects and cabochons.

Main photo : Tugtupite from Kuannersuit Plateau, Greenland © Amy & Michael Biavati

Tugtupite in the World

The best deposit of tugtupite is the Ilimaussaq nepheline syenite complex, near Narssaq (Greenland), where it accompanies sodalite in several sites of this complex. It is also known from Mont St-Hilaire (Quebec, Canada) in aggregates and small crystals, and as a secondary mineral in pegmatites of the Lovozero alkaline massif (Kola, Russia).

Right photo : Tugtupite from Poudrette Quarry, Mont St-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada © László Horváth


Tugtupite in France

Tugtupite is not present in the French underground.

Twinning

Twinning is known on (101) resulting in pseudocubic triplets, and pseudotrigonal contact twins are reported with the composition planes (10-1 ) and (01-1).

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4
Density : 2.33
Fracture : Irregular
Streak : White

TP : Translucent
RI : 1.496 to 1.502
Birefringence : 0.006
Optical character : Uniaxial +
Pleochroism : Low
Fluorescence : Pink to red

Solubility : -

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

ReCaptcha

This service is used to secure web forms of our website and required if you want to contact us. By accepting it you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a service used on our website that tracks, reports traffic and measures how users interact with our website content in order for us to improve it and provide better services.

Facebook

Our website allows you to like or share its content on Facebook social network. By activating and using it you agree to Facebook's privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy/cookies/

YouTube

Integrated videos provided by YouTube are used on our website. By accepting to watch them you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Twitter

Integrated tweets and share services of Twitter are used on our website. By accepting and using these you agree to Twitter's privacy policy: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies

PInterest

Our website allows you to share its content on PInterest social network. By activating and using it you agree to PInterest's privacy policy: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy/