Mindat Logo
Home Page Log In Message Board The Mindat Directory
Register Search Pages Chat Now! (2 online) Mindat Auctions

Spodumene

Big Photo

Harding Mine (Harding pegmatite), Picuris District, Taos Co., New Mexico, USA
© Van King

Show Spodumene Photos (155)
Formula:
LiAl[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
System:MonoclinicColour:Colourless, yellow, ...
Lustre:Vitreous, DullHardness:6½ - 7
Name:From Greek "spodoumenos", reduced to ashes, alluding to the grayish white mass that is formed when the mineral is ignited.


Pyroxene Group - Clinopyroxene Subgroup.

Spodumene is worked as an ore of lithium, but it is most highly prized as a gem material - the varieties Kunzite (pink) and Hiddenite (green) are especially sought after. It is usually found as a constituent of lithium-rich pegmatites.

Classification of Spodumene

IMA status:Approved
Strunz 8th edition ID:8/F.01-120
Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:9.DA.30

9 : SILICATES (Germanates)
D : Inosilicates
A : Inosilicates with 2-periodic single chains, Si2O6; pyroxene family
Dana 8th edition ID:65.1.4.1

65 : INOSILICATES Single-Width,Unbranched Chains,(W=1)
1 : Single-Width Unbranched Chains, W=1 with chains P=2
Hey's CIM Ref.:16.1.2

16 : Silicates Containing Aluminum and other Metals
1 : Aluminosilicates of Li
mindat.org URL:http://www.mindat.org/min-3733.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

Type Occurrence of Spodumene

Type Locality:Utö Island, Haninge, Stockholm, Södermanland, Sweden
Year of Discovery:1800

Physical Properties of Spodumene

Lustre:Vitreous, Dull
Diaphaneity (Transparency):Transparent, Translucent
Colour:Colourless, yellow, light green, emerald-green, pink to violet, purple, white, gray
Streak:White
Hardness (Mohs):6½ - 7
Cleavage:Perfect
Density (measured):3.1 - 3.2 g/cm3

Crystallography of Spodumene

Crystal System:Monoclinic
Cell Parameters:a = 9.46Å, b = 8.39Å, c = 5.22Å
β = 110.17°
Ratio:a:b:c = 1.128 : 1 : 0.622
Unit Cell Volume:V 388.90 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Crystal Atlas:
Image Loading
Click on an icon to view
Spodumene no.6 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)

About Crystal Atlas

You may need to scroll this box using your mouse to view the full instructions.

The mindat.org Crystal Atlas allows you to view a selection of crystal drawings of real and idealised crystal forms for this mineral and, in certain cases, 3d rotating crystal objects. You need Java to see these. You can download Java for free - click here to download Java

The 3d models and java code are kindly provided by www.smorf.nl. You can control the movement of the models by holding down the left mouse-button over the 3d model and moving your mouse. Keyboard controls are:

: default positions
t/T: decrease/increase transparency x/X: next/previous texture
b/B: next/previous background w: toggle wireframe
s: toggle sticks m: toggle miller indices
k: toggle crystallographic axes =/-: zoom in/out
r: stop/start rotation 1/2/3
X-Ray Powder Diffraction:
Image Loading

Radiation - Copper Kα
Data Set:
Horizontal Axis: ° to ° Vertical Axis: % Source Data: Filtered Data: Peaks:
Data courtesy of RRUFF project at University of Arizona, used with permission.

Optical Data of Spodumene

Type:Biaxial (+)
RI values: nα = 1.648 - 1.661 nβ = 1.655 - 1.670 nγ = 1.662 - 1.679
2V:Measured: 54° to 69°, Calculated: 88°
Maximum Birefringence:δ = 0.014 - 0.018

Chart shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness) and does not take into account mineral colouration.
Surface Relief:Moderate
Dispersion:weak

Chemical Properties of Spodumene

Formula:
LiAl[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
Essential elements:Al, Li, O, Si
All elements listed in formula:Al, Li, O, Si
Common Impurities:Fe,Mn,Mg,Ca,Na,K,H2O

Relationship of Spodumene to other Species

Member of Group:
Clinopyroxene Subgroup:
Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping):

- +
9.DA.05Donpeacorite
(Mn
2+
 
,Mg)Mg[SiO
 
3
]
 
2
9.DA.05Enstatite
Mg
 
2
[SiO
 
3
]
 
2
9.DA.05Ferrosilite
Fe
 
2
[SiO
 
3
]
 
2
9.DA.10Clinoenstatite
Mg
 
2
[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.10Clinoferrosilite
Fe
2+
 
(Fe
2+
 
,Mg)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.10Kanoite
Mn
2+
 
(Mg,Mn
2+
 
)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.10Pigeonite
(Mg,Fe
2+
 
,Ca)(Mg,Fe
2+
 
)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Augite
(Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe
2+
 
,Al,Fe
3+
 
,Ti)[(Si,Al)
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Diopside
CaMg[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Esseneite
CaFe
3+
 
[AlSiO
 
6
]
9.DA.15Hedenbergite
CaFe
2+
 
[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Johannsenite
CaMn
2+
 
[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Petedunnite
Ca(Zn,Mn
2+
 
,Mg,Fe
2+
 
)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.15Davisite
CaScAlSiO
 
6
9.DA.15Kushiroite
CaAl[AlSiO
 
6
]
9.DA.15Grossmanite
CaTi
3+
 
 AlSiO
 
6
9.DA.20Aegirine-augite
(Na,Ca)(Fe
3+
 
,Fe
2+
 
,Mg,Al)Si
 
2
O
 
6
9.DA.20Omphacite
(Ca,Na)(Mg,Al)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Aegirine
NaFe
3+
 
[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Jadeite
Na(Al,Fe
3+
 
)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Jervisite
(Na,Ca,Fe
2+
 
)(Sc,Mg,Fe
2+
 
)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Kosmochlor
NaCr[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Namansilite
NaMn
3+
 
[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
9.DA.25Natalyite
Na(V
3+
 
,Cr)[Si
 
2
O
 
6
]
Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:

- +
16.1.1Petalite
LiAlSi
 
4
O
 
10
16.1.3Eucryptite
LiAl[SiO
 
4
]
16.1.4Virgilite
LiAlSi
 
2
O
 
6
16.1.5Cookeite
LiAl
 
4
(Si
 
3
Al)O
 
10
(OH)
 
8
16.1.6Bikitaite
LiAlSi
 
2
O
 
6
·H
 
2
O
16.1.7Lunijianlaite
Li
 
0.7
Al
 
6.2
(Si
 
7
AlO
 
20
)(OH,O)
 
10
16.1.8Swinefordite
Li(Al,Li,Mg)
 
4
(Si,Al)
 
8
O
 
20
,(OH,F)
 
4
·xH
 
2
O
16.1.9Holmquistite
☐[Li
 
2
][Mg
 
3
Al
 
2
][(OH)
 
2
|Si
 
8
O
 
22
]
16.1.13Clinoferroholmquistite
[ ][Li
 
2
][Fe
2+
3
Al
 
2
][(OH)
 
2
|Si
 
8
O
 
22
]
16.1.14Magnesioholmquistite
16.1.15Bityite
CaLiAl
 
2
[(OH)
 
2
|BeAlSi
 
2
O
 
10
]
16.1.16Sogdianite
(K,Na)
 
2
(Li,Fe)
 
3
(Zr,Ti,Fe)Si
 
12
O
 
30
16.1.17Sugilite
KNa
 
2
(Fe,Mn,Al)
 
2
Li
 
3
Si
 
12
O
 
30

Other Names for Spodumene

Synonyms:
Alpha-SpodumeneTriphane
Other Languages:
Basque:Espodumeno
Croatian:Spodumen
Dutch:Spodumeen
Estonian:Spodumeen
Finnish:Spodumeeni
French:Spodumène
German:Spodumen
Hungarian:Spodumen
Italian:Spodumene
Japanese:リシア輝石
リチア輝石
Lithuanian:Spodumenas
Polish:Spodumen
Portuguese:Espodúmena
Russian:Сподумен
Swedish:Spodumen
Varieties:
HiddeniteKunzite

Other Information

Health Warning:No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

References for Spodumene

Reference List:Dana, E.S. (1892) Dana's system of mineralogy, 6th edition. New York: 366-369.

Gabriel A. et al. (1942), Economic Geology: 37: 116.

Clark, J.R., D.E. Appleman, and J.J. Papike (1969) Crystal-chemical characterization of clinopyroxenes based on eight new structure refinements. MSA Special Paper 2: 31-50.

Cameron, M., S. Shigeho, C.T. Prewitt & J.J. Papike (1973), High temperature crystal chemistry of acmite, diopside, hedenbergite, jadeite, spodumene and ureyite: American Mineralogist: 58: 594-618.

Deer, W.A., R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman (1978) Rock-forming minerals, 2nd edition, vol. 2A, single-chain silicates: 527-544.

Acta Crystallographica (1999): B: 273.

Arlt, T. and Angel, R. (2000) Displacive phase transitions in C-centered clinopyroxenes: spodumene, LiScSi2O6, and ZnSiO3. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 27: 719-731.

Internet Links for Spodumene

Search Engines:
  • Look for Spodumene on Google
  • Look for Spodumene images on Google
    • External Links:
  • Look for Spodumene on Webmineral
  • Look for Spodumene on Athena Mineralogy
  • Look for Spodumene on Wikipedia
  • Look for Spodumene on Mineralien Atlas
  • Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project
  • American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database
  • Search for Spodumene in the Natural History Museum (London) online catalogue
  • Spodumene details from Handbook of Mineralogy (PDF)
    • Mineral Dealers:
  • Mineral Classics - Worldwide Collector Quality Minerals and Gems
  • Fabre Minerals - search for Spodumene specimens
  • Buy Fine Minerals from mineralsweb.com
  • Wright's Rock Shop - excellent mineral specimens since 1970
  • Edwards Minerals - Fine Specimens
  • Wendel Minerals - Auktion & Shop
  • The Arkenstone - Fine Minerals
  • SpiriferMinerals.com - high quality specimens
  • DAKOTA MATRIX offers Cabinet and Rare Species from Worldwide Localities.
  • Buy minerals from Mineralium.com
  • Buy from David K Joyce minerals
  • Find Spodumene on www.crystalclassics.co.uk
    • Jobs:
  • Mining & Geology Jobs

    • Page Sponsor

    Sponsorship:This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.

    Localities for Spodumene

    Show Locality List (437 Items)
    The map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the symbol to view information about a locality. The symbol next to localities in the list can be used to jump to that position on the map.
    Mineral and/or Locality
    Google
     
    www.mindat.org Web
    Copyright © Jolyon Ralph and Ida Chau 1993-2009. Site Map. Locality, mineral & photograph data are the copyright of the individuals who submitted them.Further information contact the Site hosted & developed by Jolyon Ralph. Mindat.org is an online information resource dedicated to providing free mineralogical information to all. Mindat relies on the contributions of hundreds of members and supporters. If you would like to add information to improve the quality of our database, then click here to register. Current server date and time: 28th Oct 2009 12:18:31