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Formula: Fe3Si
Silicide of iron
Crystal System: Isometric
Specific gravity: 7.29 calculated
Hardness: 5
Streak: Black
Colour: Black to steel-grey
Magnetism: Strongly magnetic
Environments
Localities
At the type localities, Placer occurrences (Yanshan micrometeorite), Chengde, Hebei, China, both gupeiite and
xifengite occur as cores of spheres 0.1 to O.5 mm in diameter in placers. The
spheres are composed of an outer shell of magnetite,
wüstite and maghemite, an inner
shell of kamacite and taenite, and a
core of either gupeiite or xifengite. The surface
characteristics and the minerals present suggest that the spheres are extraterrestrial in origin
(AM 71.227-232).
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