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Formula: Mg2(PO4)F
Anhydrous phosphate containing halogen, wagnerite group
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 3.15 measured and calculated
Hardness: 5 to 5½
Streak: White
Colour: Yellow, brown, red brown, light grey, green, red, colourless in transmitted light
Solubility: Soluble in acids
Common impurities: Fe,Ca
Environments
Pegmatites
Metamorphic environments
Wagnerite is a rare accessory mineral in metamorphic rocks of moderate to high grade, and is uncommon in
pegmatites (Webmin, HOM). It may alter to
apatite
(Mindat).
Localities
At the Christmas point pegmatite, Khmara Bay, Casey Bay, Napier Complex, Enderby Land, Eastern Antarctica, Antarctica,
Wagnerite-Ma5bc, a new polytype, occurs in
gneiss as grains to 2 mm across. Textures are consistent with a
primary assemblage wagnerite-Ma5bc +
plagioclase + apatite +
magnetite +
ilmenite–hematite that crystallised
under granulite facies conditions (750 to
~860oC, 6 to 7 kbar). Also present are biotite,
quartz, K-feldspar,
monazite and xenotime group
minerals,
corundum, hercynite and sulphides
(CM 41.393-411 )
Wagnerite occurs with surinamite,
magnesiotaaffeite-6N'3S,
garnet,
sapphirine, chrysoberyl and
cordierite
(HOM).
At the type locality, Höllgraben, Pfarrwerfen, St. Johann im Pongau District, Salzburg, Austria, wagnerite has
been found in hydrothermal quartz-carbonate veins
associated with quartz, ferroan
magnesite, lazulite,
chlorite, clinochlore and
breunnerite
(Mindat, Dana, HOM).
At Star Lake, Sherridon District, Manitoba, Canada, wagnerite is a rare mineral found within calcium-depleted,
aluminium-rich
rocks (CM 30.1161-1165).
The Sherridon Group is dominated by
quartz-biotite
gneiss. Discontinuous lenses of extremely coarse
garnet-cordierite-anthophyllite
gneiss occur within the
quartz-biotite
gneiss units. The
garnet-cordierite-anthophyllite
rocks are underlain by a sillimanite-bearing unit at Star Lake. Within the
garnet-cordierite-anthophyllite
rocks, three units are present. From the base upward, these are:
Unit l, characterised by quartz, garnet,
anthophyllite and biotite.
Unit 2, characterised by garnet,
anthophyllite and minor
cordierite.
Unit 3, characterised by anthophyllite and
cordierite.
In general, these units are composed of coarse-grained anthophyllite,
cordierite and garnet, with
biotite-sillimanite and
quartz making up much of the remainder of the rock. Dispersed throughout the
gneiss are magnetite,
hercynite, staurolite and
chlorite. The wagnerite, which is less than l% by volume, is found
exclusively within Unit 2, closely associated with garnet,
cordierite and anthophyllite
(CM 30.1161-1165).
At Dolní Bory, Bory, Žďár nad Sázavou District, Vysočina Region, Czech Republic wagnerite occurs as a
fine-grained aggregate in a pegmatite
(CM 30.1161-1165).
It has been found in a single block of pyrope-rich rock found in a field
(CM 30.1161-1165).
At the Silberberg mine, Bodenmais, Regen District, Lower Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany, wagnerite has been found
within a piece of magnetite-rich ore
(CM 30.1161-1165).
At Ichetuyskoye, Dzhida Basin, Buriatia Republic, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, wagnerite occurs in
pegmatite and
aplite veins of the Kyakhta
sillimanite deposit
(CM 30.1161-1165).
In the Lepontine area of the Central Alps in Switzerland, wagnerite occurs in a
phlogopite schist
(CM 30.1161-1165).
At the Dome Rock Mountains, La Paz county, Arizona, USA wagnerite occurs as an accessory phase in a
rutile-bearing kyanite
quartzite
(CM 30.1161-1165).
At the Santa Fe Mountain Beryl Prospect, Clear Creek pegmatite Province, Clear Creek county, Colorado, USA,
wagnerite occurs as a trace constituent of rutile-bearing
biotite-quartz-plagioclase
gneiss (CM 30.1161-1165). The wagnerite is associated with
corundum,
sillimanite, plagioclase,
biotite, monazite-(Ce),
apatite, andalusite and
tourmaline
(HOM).
At the Benson Mines, Benson, Star Lake, St. Lawrence county, New York, USA, wagnerite occurs with
isokite in
magnetite-hematite deposits
associated with
sillimanite-garnet-pyroxene
rich gneiss
(CM 30.1161-1165, Dana).
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