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Formula: (H2O)K(Mn2+Fe3+)(Al2Ti)(PO44[O(OH)][(H2O)9(OH)].4H2O
Phosphate mineral, paulkerrite group
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 2.40 calculated for the empirical formula
Colour: Colourless
Environments
Sperlingite is a new mineral, approved in 2024 and to date (December 2024) reported only from the type
locality.
Localities
At the type locality, the Hagendorf South Pegmatite, Hagendorf, Waidhaus, Neustadt an der Waldnaab District, Upper
Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany, a specimen containing sperlingite was found on the mine dump. The matrix of the
specimen consists of strongly corroded zwieselite residues in
quartz, with clusters of sperlingite crystals occupying corrosion pits in
the zwieselite. Accompanying minerals are
scholzite, hopeite,
leucophosphite, orange–brown
zincoberaunite sprays, tiny green crystals of
zincolibethenite, olive-green
mitridatite and columbite. The
colourless sperlingite crystals are commonly stained with mitridatite
coatings. In addition to the close association of sperlingite with
zwieselite, crystals are also observed growing on and within
scholzite. Sperlingite and
scholzite are probably the youngest phosphate minerals in the specimen.
Crystals of sperlingite, in the form of colourless prisms with pyramidal terminations, are predominantly only 5 to
20 μm in size, rarely to 60 μm, and are frequently multiply intergrown and overgrown with smaller crystals
(MM 88.5.576-584).
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