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Formula: Mn2+3(PO4)2·7H2O
Hydrated phosphate, ludlamite group,
manganese-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 2.535 measured, 2.562 calculated
Hardness: 2
Streak: White
Colour: Pale pink, pinkish brown
Environments
Switzerite occurs in complex zoned granite pegmatites as a late stage hydrothermal
alteration product of minerals such as triphylite and
triplite (HOM, JRS 8(1).1-9). In air it dehydrates to
metaswitzerite rapidly and irreversibly
(Mindat).
Localities
At Reaphook Hill, South Australia, switzerite has been found in a gossan-like mass covering unmetamorphosed
siltstone and associated with hillite,
scholzite, tarbuttite,
parahopeite, collinsite,
rockbridgeite and phosphophyllite
(Minrec 35.4.352, HOM).
At Burdell Gill, Coombe Height, Caldbeck, Allerdale, Cumbria, England, UK, remarkably stable switzerite has been found.
Generally switzerite
rapidly dehydrates to metaswitzerite on exposure to the air, but at Burdell Gill
the mineral is
a genuinely supergene phase occurring as small divergent sprays or as a thin film of
fibrous material on hairline fracture surfaces in gossanous
quartz associated with barium pharmacosiderite.
A specimen was studied which had been collected almost ten years before, but was stable switzerite rather than
metaswitzerite. It is thought that the presence of iron causes the rapid dehydration of
switzerite to metaswitzerite, but the Burdell Gill switzerite is
essentially iron-free; it is
also unusually rich in arsenate, and it is possible that this also contributes towards the stability of switzerite from this site
(JRS 8(1).1-9).
At the 7U7 Ranch, Arizona, USA, switzerite is associated with triplite,
bermanite,
leucophosphite, strengite,
phosphosiderite and paulkerrite
(HOM).
At the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Oxford county, Maine, USA, switzerite and
metaswitzerite occur rarely as patches
of crystals to 2 mm in rhodochrosite and altered
lithiophilite. The Emmons pegmatite is situated in a belt of metasedimentary rocks
which originated as marine sediments which were subsequently deformed and metamorphosed. The Emmons pegmatite is an example of a
highly evolved
boron-lithium-cesium-tantalum
enriched pegmatite
(R&M 94.6.516).
At the type locality, the Foote Lithium Company Mine, Kings Mountain Mining District, Cleveland county, North Carolina, USA, switzerite occurs
with vivianite in seams in spodumene-rich pegmatite
(AM52.1595-1602), associated with metaswitzerite and
vivianite
(HOM).
At the TipTop mine, South Dakota, USA, switzerite is associated with hureaulite
(HOM).
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