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Formula: Na2BeSi2O6
Inosilicate (chain silicate), beryllium-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 2.662 measured, 2.70 calculated
Hardness: 6
Streak: White
Colour: White
Common impurities: Fe,Ca,K,S
Environments
Plutonic igneous environments
Pegmatites
Localities
At the Poudrette quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Quebec, Canada, chkalovite occurs as rare mm-sized
crystals in sodalite xenoliths in an intrusive alkalic
gabbro-syenite complex. Associated minerals include
villiaumite, ussingite,
sodalite, aegirine,
lovozerite, vuonnemite,
serandite, lueshite and
steenstrupine-(Ce)
(HOM, Dana).
At the type locality, the Malyi Punkaruaiv Mountain, Lovozersky District, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, chkalovite is found in
ussingite veinlets in pegmatite in the alkaline massif. Associated minerals include
schizolite, sphalerite,
manganoan pectolite,
microcline, sodalite,
eudialyte and neptunite, as well as
ussingite
(AM 25.380, HOM).
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