Bultfonteinite, originally dutoitspanite, is a pink, light-brown or colorless mineral with

chemical formula A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...

Ca₂SiO₂(OH,F)₄. It was discovered in 1903 or 1904 in the Bultfontein mine in South Africa, for which the mineral is named, and described in 1932.

Description

Bultfonteinite is transparent and ranges from pale pink or light brown to colorless. The mineral occurs as radiating prismatic acicular crystals and radial spherules up to .

Structure

The

crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat ...

of bultfonteinite consists of strips of a₄Si₂O₄sup>8+, that run along the 5.67 Å ''c''-axis, held together by Ca–O–Ca, Ca–F–Ca, Ca–H₂O–Ca, and Ca–O–Si bonds. Silicon atoms occur in isolated

tetrahedra In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...

and the calcium atoms have seven-fold

coordination Coordination may refer to: * Coordination (linguistics), a compound grammatical construction * Coordination complex, consisting of a central atom or ion and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions ** A chemical reaction to form a coordinati ...

, derived from a

triangular prism In geometry, a triangular prism or trigonal prism is a Prism (geometry), prism with 2 triangular bases. If the edges pair with each triangle's vertex and if they are perpendicular to the base, it is a ''right triangular prism''. A right triangul ...

with a seventh atom present on one of the square faces.

History

In either 1903 or 1904, a miner discovered the first specimen of bultfonteinite on the 480-foot level of the Bultfontein mine in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, South Africa. The mineral occurred in a several-hundred-foot-tall

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known as the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-Car ...

-enclosed

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

and shale fragments. The specimen, mistakenly thought to be

natrolite Natrolite is a tectosilicate mineral species belonging to the zeolite group. It is a hydrated sodium and aluminium silicate with the formula . The type locality is Hohentwiel, Hegau, Germany. It was named natrolite by Martin Heinrich Klaprot ...

, was given to Alpheus F. Williams. Several years later, additional samples were found by C. E. Adams in the nearby Dutoitspan mine and given to the MacGregor Museum in Kimberley. Shortly before 1932, the mineral was found about to the southeast of Kimberley at the

Jagersfontein Mine Jagersfontein Mine was an open-pit mine in South Africa, located close to the town of Jagersfontein and about south-west of Bloemfontein.Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

. After John Parry and F. E. Wright described the mineral

afwillite Afwillite is a calcium hydroxide nesosilicate mineral with formula Ca3(SiO3OH)2·2H2O. It occurs as glassy, colorless to white prismatic monoclinic crystals. Its Mohs scale hardness is between 3 and 4. It occurs as an alteration mineral in contact ...

in 1925, Williams recognized that his samples of bultfonteinite were not natrolite, but were likely a new mineral species. Chemical analysis by John Parry and crystallographic and optical determination by Wright proved it to be a new mineral. The mineral was described by Parry, Williams, and Wright in 1932 and named ''bultfonteinite''. Their original description does not explicitly state the origin of the name, but it is presumably named after the mine in which it was discovered. Earlier that year in his book ''The Genesis of the Diamond'', Williams had called the mineral dutoitspanite, a name which was "apparently discarded". When the

International Mineralogical Association Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. ...

was founded, bultfonteinite was grandfathered as a valid mineral species. The

type material In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

is held in England at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

in London.

Occurrence

Bultfonteinite has been found in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. The mineral was first located outside South Africa in the US state of California in 1955. Bultfonteinite has been found in association with

apophyllite The name apophyllite refers to a specific group of phyllosilicates, a class of minerals. Originally, the group name referred to a specific mineral, but was redefined in 1978 to stand for a class of minerals of similar chemical makeup that compris ...

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

, oyelite,

scawtite Scawtite is a hydrous calcium silicate mineral with carbonate, formula: Ca7(Si3O9)2CO3·2H2O. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system as thin plates or flat prisms. Scawtite was first described in 1929 for an occurrence at Scawt Hill in N ...

, and

xonotlite Xonotlite, or eakleite, is a mineral of general formula named by the German mineralogist Karl Friedrich August Rammelsberg in 1866. The name originates from its discovery locality, Tetela de Xonotla, Puebla, Mexico. Although it was discovered i ...

. At the type locality, the mineral occurred in a large structure of

and shale fragments in a

pipe. In Crestmore, California, bultfonteinite formed in the contact zone of thermally metamorphosed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

References

Bibliography * * * *

External links

* {{Commonscat-inline, Bultfonteinite Calcium minerals Crestmore Heights, California Fluorine minerals Minerals in space group 2 Nesosilicates Triclinic minerals