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Formula: Ni2(SiO4)
Nesosilicate (insular SiO4 groups), olivine group,
nickel-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 4.92 measured, 4.60 calculated
Hardness: 6 to 6½
Streak: White
Colour: Yellow-green to bright green
Common impurities: Mg,Fe,Co
Environments
Localities
At the type locality, the Bon Accord Ni deposit, Barberton, Mbombela Local Municipality, Ehlanzeni District Municipality,
Mpumalanga, South Africa, trevorite-bearing ores formed a small tabular body
approximately 20 feet long and about 2 feet thick at the contact between
quartzite and serpentinised
ultramafics; it appears to have formed at about 730oC and less than
2 kbar during thermal metamorphism, possibly of a nickel-rich
meteorite.
The liebenbergite forms part of the assemblage trevorite -
nickel serpentine -
nickel
ludwigite - bunsenite -
violarite - millerite -
gaspéite - nimite. The original
liebenbergite grains filled the interstices between the trevorite grains
and measured up to 1 mm or more in diameter. They are, however, almost completely replaced by the
secondary nickel
serpentine, with the result that only small irregular grains, few exceeding
150 microns in diameter, are present in the serpentine matrix
(AM 58.733-735).
Other associated minerals include bonaccordite,
goethite, népouite,
reevesite and willemseite
(Dana).
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