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Formula: Mn2+Fe3+2(PO4)2(OH)2.6H2O
Hydrated phosphate containing hydroxyl, manganese-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Triclinic
Specific gravity: 2.52 measured, 2.49 calculated
Hardness: 4
Streak: White
Colour: Straw-yellow to light brownish yellow
Environments:
Strunzite is a secondary mineral, typically altered from
triphylite, that occurs as a near-surface weathering product in
pegmatites that contain
triphylite, and also as films in weathered outcrops of phosphate rock
(AM 43.793).
Associated minerals include laueite,
beraunite,
bermanite, diadochite,
goethite, hureaulite,
jahnsite, leucophosphite,
ludlamite, mitridatite,
phosphosiderite,
pseudolaueite,
quartz, rockbridgeite,
siderite, stewartite,
strengite, triphylite,
vivianite and whitmoreite
(HOM, Mindat).
Localities
At the type locality, the Hagendorf South Pegmatite, Waidhaus, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria,
Germany,
strunzite occurs as a late-stage alteration of primary
phosphates,
particularly triphylite
(Mindat).
Strunzite from Hagendorf - Image
At the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Oxford county, Maine, USA, strunzite crystals to one cm are common in parts
of lithiophilite pods that have some
iron content. Associated minerals include
laueite, mitridatite and
stewartite. The Emmons
pegmatite is an example of a highly evolved
boron-lithium-cesium-tantalum
enriched pegmatite
(R&M 94.6.516).
Strunzite from the Emmons Quarry - Image
At the Chickering Mine, Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA, strunzite is a common late-stage product
of hydrothermally
altered triphylite. It is associated with almost all of the
secondary phosphates in
both altered triphylite and
montebrasite
assemblages
(R&M 90.5.421).
Strunzite from the Chickering Mine - Image
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