Anandite

Anandite, also known as Anandite-2O in English and Adandit or Anandit in German, or Анандит in Russian,cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/min-456.html|title=Anandite mineral information and data|accessdate=2008-05-04|author=Jolyon & Ida Ralph|publisher=Mindat.org] is a type of mineral that forms crystals. The crystals are usually monoclinic in shape and they usually grow in large clumps on the same rock.cite web|url=http://www.mineralcollecting.org/data/allcategory.cgi?a=Anandite&m=ww&ex=&a=a&c=&d=&l=&h=&v=&s=&r=&el=&pc=&elt=&pct=&elr=&pcr=&elf=&pcf=&str=&dna=&fml= |title=Anandite Mineral Data|accessdate=2008-05-04|publisher=Mineralcollecting.org] Because of how bad the face of the mineral is in, the flakes of crystal that shed off of the mineral actually look hexagonal in shape instead of the normal monoclinic shape.cite web|url=http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/anandite.pdf|title=PDF data sheet for Anandite in the Handbook of Mineralogy.|date=2001|accessdate=2008-05-04|publisher=Mineral Data Publishing|work=Handbook of Mineralogy] It is black in color and has a glassy luster and a near perfect cleavage.cite web|url=http://www.minmax.net/min.php|title=Mineral Information System's fact sheet on Anandite|accessdate=2008-05-04|publisher=Mineral Information System] It has a molecular weight of 593.15 grams.cite web|url=http://www.webmineral.com/data/Anandite.shtml|title=Anandite mineral data sheet|accessdate=2008-05-04|publisher=Webmineral.com] Its chemical formula is Ba₂(Fe²+,Mg)₃(Fe²+,Fe³+)₃ [OH|(S,Cl)|(Fe³+,Si)₂Si₂O₁₀}₂.

It was discovered in the year 1967.cite web|url=http://euromin.w3sites.net/mineraux/ANANDITE-2M.html|title=Information sheet about Anandite fr icon|accessdate=2008-05-04] It can be found in the Wilagedera Prospect of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka in bands of iron ore.cite web|url=http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_36/36-277-1.htm|title=University of Helsinki report on Anandite|accessdate=2008-05-04|date=1967|publisher=Mineralogical Society] Other samples of Anandite have been found in Big Creek, California in Fresno County and in Trumball Peak in Mariposa county, as well as the Sterling Mine in New Jersey, but Anandite very rarely occurs in nature. It was named for Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, who was the director of the Mineral Survery of Ceylon, Sri Lanka at that time.

Anandite is a member of the Mica group of minerals.cite web|url=http://un2sg4.unige.ch/athena/cgi-bin/minfich?s=Anandite|title=Athena Mineral data sheet for Anandite|accessdate=2008-05-04|author=Pierre Peroud] Anandite is composed of potassium, barium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, silicon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Other minerals that anandite is related to include: magnetite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and barite. There are no known health risks associated with Anandite, even though Anandite has a very minuscule amount of radioactivity.

References

External links

* [http://www.webmineral.com/data/Anandite.shtml Webmineral's fact sheet for Anandite]
* [http://www.mindat.org/min-456.html Mindat.org's fact sheet for Anandite]