Wushan Spessartine Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Zhangzhou, Fujian, Chinai
Regional Level Types | |
---|---|
Wushan Spessartine Mine | Mine |
Tongbei | Village |
Yunxiao Co. | County |
Zhangzhou | Prefecture-level City |
Fujian | Province |
China | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
23° 54' 21'' North , 117° 11' 53'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
21240
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:21240:4
GUID (UUID V4):
e2ef7a96-b102-4ce8-a5eb-69580afb7d4f
Name(s) in local language(s):
δΉε±±ι°ι榴η³ηΏ, ιε, δΊιεΏ, ζΌ³ε·εΈ, η¦ε»Ίη, δΈε½
The first specimens of Chinese garnet associated with smoky quartz and feldspar appeared on the market in 1998. The locality cited was the city of Lechang, in Guangdong Province; only at the end of 2001, some dealers gave the province of Fujian as the true locality and Yunxiao as the nearest large city.
Samples come from two main collecting sites: the first lies near the village of Tongbei, southwest of Yunxiao; the second is at Yunling in Zhangpu County, about 30 km further northeast. At Tongbei, helvine and topaz occur, but no fluorite, which is present only at Yunling.
The discovery of these localities took place 15 years ago. Granitic rocks originated as intrusions during the late Mesozoic, as a result of the subduction of Paleo-Pacific Plate under the continental plate of southeastern China.
NOTE: The feldspar associated with the spessartine is microcline, not orthoclase as originally reported.
NOTE: According to B. Ottens there is no such thing as a "Spessartine Mine" at Wushan..this is a fiction of an Chinese dealer...the Spessartines came from numerous small workings and quarries....
NOTE: This information is given from the Nanjing University:
There is an 800km long Cretaceous granitic belt exposed in the southeastern coastal of China, it occurs from Guangdong through Fujian and extends to Zhejiang provinces. At this stage there are many locations that produces miarolitic cavities with different mineral specimens. There are over 20 different locations, and one third of them have spessartine. Most of the miarolitic cavity minerals were exposed by granite mining. Tongbei village represents the first place where people do systematic mining of the specimen, which is actually illegal unless you mine for granite building materials. A labelling as Tongbei-Wushan hill is OK, the Tongbei is the name of the village and the Wushan actually means Wu mountain. Wushan is now a protected national park so collecting minerals from the exposed granite is prohibited. As for the βYunling villageβ - there is no such place and the description in Ottensβ book should be wrong, caused by incorrect information. However there are several locations between Yunxiao and Suian (location where Ottens describes as Yunling village) that produce miarolitic minerals and they belong to the Jingangshan granite pluton, a similar sized pluton to Wushan. It is complicated and there is no need to know because 99.9% of the spessartine-quartz specimens you can bought in the market came from Wushan pluton around Tongbei village.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
β Albite Formula: Na(AlSi3O8) References: |
β Beryl Formula: Be3Al2(Si6O18) Colour: pale green Description: xls up to few mm long. References: |
β Calcite Formula: CaCO3 References: |
β Clinochlore Formula: Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
β Fluorite Formula: CaF2 Habit: octahedral xls Colour: colorless, pale green, pale to dark blue References: |
β Helvine Formula: Be3Mn2+4(SiO4)3S Habit: pseudo-octahedral xls Colour: yellow, with dark surface coatings Description: xls rest either on feldspar or on smoky quartz. Helvite xls were found at Tongbei at the end of 2001 and the first xls collected had a dark surface coatings. Helvite xls discovered at later times lack the dark surface coatings but it is suspected that such pieces have been treated in Tongbei with HCl. References: |
β Hematite Formula: Fe2O3 Habit: tabular xls References: |
β Manganite Formula: Mn3+O(OH) |
β Microcline Formula: K(AlSi3O8) Description: Rarely Manebach twins have been observed and characteristic of microcline. Feldspar xls in near surface pockets are often seen to be in the process of kaolinization. References: |
β Milarite Formula: K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] Description: xls up to 0,5 mm. |
β Molybdenite Formula: MoS2 References: |
β Muscovite Formula: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 References: |
β Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O Colour: Whitish Fluorescence: Bright green (SW UV) Description: Thin whitish crusts on orthoclase crystals and spessartine crystals. |
β Opal var. Opal-AN Formula: SiO2 · nH2O Colour: Whitish Fluorescence: Bright green (SW UV) Description: Thin whitish crusts on orthoclase crystals and spessartine crystals. |
β Formula: K(AlSi3O8) Colour: cream colored |
β Pyrite Formula: FeS2 Habit: cubic xls References: |
β Quartz Formula: SiO2 References: |
β Quartz var. Smoky Quartz Formula: SiO2 Description: xls up to 30 cm. |
β Schorl Formula: NaFe2+3Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) References: |
β Spessartine Formula: Mn2+3Al2(SiO4)3 Habit: trapezohedric xls Colour: orange |
β Topaz Formula: Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
---|---|---|---|
β | Molybdenite | 2.EA.30 | MoS2 |
β | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
Group 3 - Halides | |||
β | Fluorite | 3.AB.25 | CaF2 |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
β | Hematite | 4.CB.05 | Fe2O3 |
β | Quartz var. Smoky Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
β | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 | |
β | Opal var. Opal-AN | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 Β· nH2O |
β | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 Β· nH2O | |
β | Manganite | 4.FD.15 | Mn3+O(OH) |
Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
β | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
Group 9 - Silicates | |||
β | Spessartine | 9.AD.25 | Mn2+3Al2(SiO4)3 |
β | Topaz | 9.AF.35 | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
β | Beryl | 9.CJ.05 | Be3Al2(Si6O18) |
β | Schorl | 9.CK.05 | NaFe2+3Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
β | Milarite | 9.CM.05 | K(β»H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
β | Muscovite | 9.EC.15 | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
β | Clinochlore | 9.EC.55 | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
β | Orthoclase ? | 9.FA.30 | K(AlSi3O8) |
β | Microcline | 9.FA.30 | K(AlSi3O8) |
β | Albite | 9.FA.35 | Na(AlSi3O8) |
β | Helvine | 9.FB.10 | Be3Mn2+4(SiO4)3S |
List of minerals for each chemical element
H | Hydrogen | |
---|---|---|
H | β Clinochlore | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
H | β Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
H | β Manganite | Mn3+O(OH) |
H | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
H | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
H | β Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
H | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
H | β Topaz | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
Be | Beryllium | |
Be | β Beryl | Be3Al2(Si6O18) |
Be | β Helvine | Be3Mn42+(SiO4)3S |
Be | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
B | Boron | |
B | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
C | Carbon | |
C | β Calcite | CaCO3 |
O | Oxygen | |
O | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
O | β Beryl | Be3Al2(Si6O18) |
O | β Calcite | CaCO3 |
O | β Clinochlore | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
O | β Helvine | Be3Mn42+(SiO4)3S |
O | β Hematite | Fe2O3 |
O | β Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
O | β Manganite | Mn3+O(OH) |
O | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
O | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
O | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
O | β Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
O | β Orthoclase | K(AlSi3O8) |
O | β Quartz | SiO2 |
O | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
O | β Quartz var. Smoky Quartz | SiO2 |
O | β Spessartine | Mn32+Al2(SiO4)3 |
O | β Topaz | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
F | Fluorine | |
F | β Fluorite | CaF2 |
F | β Topaz | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
Na | Sodium | |
Na | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
Na | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
Mg | Magnesium | |
Mg | β Clinochlore | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
Al | Aluminium | |
Al | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
Al | β Beryl | Be3Al2(Si6O18) |
Al | β Clinochlore | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
Al | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
Al | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
Al | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Al | β Orthoclase | K(AlSi3O8) |
Al | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
Al | β Spessartine | Mn32+Al2(SiO4)3 |
Al | β Topaz | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
Si | Silicon | |
Si | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
Si | β Beryl | Be3Al2(Si6O18) |
Si | β Clinochlore | Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8 |
Si | β Helvine | Be3Mn42+(SiO4)3S |
Si | β Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
Si | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
Si | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
Si | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Si | β Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
Si | β Orthoclase | K(AlSi3O8) |
Si | β Quartz | SiO2 |
Si | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
Si | β Quartz var. Smoky Quartz | SiO2 |
Si | β Spessartine | Mn32+Al2(SiO4)3 |
Si | β Topaz | Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 |
S | Sulfur | |
S | β Helvine | Be3Mn42+(SiO4)3S |
S | β Molybdenite | MoS2 |
S | β Pyrite | FeS2 |
K | Potassium | |
K | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
K | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
K | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
K | β Orthoclase | K(AlSi3O8) |
Ca | Calcium | |
Ca | β Calcite | CaCO3 |
Ca | β Fluorite | CaF2 |
Ca | β Milarite | K(◻H2O)Ca2(Be2Al)[Si12O30] |
Mn | Manganese | |
Mn | β Helvine | Be3Mn42+(SiO4)3S |
Mn | β Manganite | Mn3+O(OH) |
Mn | β Spessartine | Mn32+Al2(SiO4)3 |
Fe | Iron | |
Fe | β Hematite | Fe2O3 |
Fe | β Pyrite | FeS2 |
Fe | β Schorl | NaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) |
Mo | Molybdenum | |
Mo | β Molybdenite | MoS2 |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
AsiaContinent
Yangtze PlateTectonic Plate
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Wushan Spessartine Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Zhangzhou, Fujian, China