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Magnesiotaaffeite comprises two minerals:
Magnesiotaaffeite-2N'2S: Mg3BeAl8O16, and
Magnesiotaaffeite-6N'3S Mg2BeAl6O12
Multiple oxides, beryllium-bearing minerals
Specific gravity: 3.62
Hardness: 8 to 8½
Streak: White
Colour: Pale olive-green; in thin section, nearly colourless
Environments
Pegmatites
Metamorphic environments
Localities
At "Zircon Point" pegmatite, Khmara Bay, Casey Bay, Napier Complex, Enderby Land, Eastern Antarctica, Antarctica,
magnesiotaaffeite was found in a pegmatite cutting
granulite. Associated minerals include
quartz, sillimanite,
garnet, biotite,
surinamite and sapphirine
(HOM).
At the Ernabella Mission, Musgrave Ranges, North West Province, South Australia, magnesiotaaffeite was found in
a nodule, perhaps formerly a corundum crystal, in high-grade metamorphosed
picrite, associated with metamorphosed
peridotite and
granulite. Associated minerals include
spinel, sapphirine and
phlogopite
(HOM).
At Stubenberg Quarry, Stubenberg am See, Hartberg-Fürstenfeld District, Styria, Austria,
pseudosinhalite and magnesiotaaffeite occur as replacement
products of spinel in
geikielite–ilmenite–baddeleyite–zirconolite
veins within polymetamorphic dolomite
marble. The crystallisation sequence of magnesium-aluminium phases is
spinel → pseudosinhalite →
magnesiotaaffeite minerals, and spinel formed after or during the
replacement of baddeleyite by
zirconolite
(CM 46.1195-1205).
At the Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu county, Chenzhou, Hunan, China,
ferrotaaffeite was found associated with Fe2+ rich
magnesiotaaffeite, ferronigerite,
cassiterite, liberite,
pyrite, sphalerite,
pyrrhotite, galena,
spinel and phlogopite
(CM 50.21-29).
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