Keilite is an

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

sulfide mineral The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) or disulfide () as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenide mineral, selenides, the tell ...

with the chemical formula that is found in

enstatite chondrite Enstatite chondrites (E-type chondrites) are a rare form of meteorite, rich in the mineral enstatite. Only about 200 E-Type chondrites are currently known, comprising about 2% of the chondrites that fall on Earth.Norton, O.R. and Chitwood, L.A. F ...

s. Keilite is the iron-dominant analog of niningerite. Keilite is named after Klaus Keil (born 1934).

Occurrences

Examples of keilite occurrences are

s and the

Zakłodzie meteorite Zaklodzie or Zakłodzie may refer to: * Zakłodzie, West Pomeranian Voivodeship * Zakłodzie, Lublin Voivodeship * Zakłodzie meteorite {{Disambig ...

. It appears to be confined to impact-melt influenced enstatite chondrites that were

quenched In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece in water, gas, oil, polymer, air, or other fluids to obtain certain material properties. A type of heat treating, quenching prevents undesired low-temperature processes, such a ...

. There are also some meteorites interpreted as impact-melt

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

s that do not contain keilite. This is explained as a deeper burial after impact, which slowed cooling and enabled retrograde reactions (diapthoresis) to take place.

References

Galena group Iron(II) minerals Magnesium minerals Cubic minerals Minerals in space group 225 {{sulfide-mineral-stub