Psilomelane is a group name for hard black manganese oxides including

hollandite Hollandite (chemical formula: Ba(Mn4+6Mn3+2)O16) is an oxide mineral. It is the barium-manganese (III) endmember of the coronadite group. A mineral, with the chemical composition BaMn4+6Fe3+2O16, that was first found in the Kajlidongri mine in ...

and romanechite. Psilomelane consists of hydrous

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy u ...

oxide with variable amounts of

barium Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosp ...

. Psilomelane is erroneously, and uncommonly, known as black hematite, despite not being related to true

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of ...

, which is an iron oxide.

Formula

Generalized formula may be represented as or as . It is sometimes considered to be a hydrous manganese manganate, but of doubtful composition. The amount of manganese present corresponds to 70-80% of manganous oxide with 10-15% of available

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

Characteristics

Psilomelane has no definite chemical composition and occurs as botryoidal and stalactitic masses with a smooth shining surface and submetallic lustre. The

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...

is readily distinguished from other hydrous manganese oxides (manganite and wad) by its greater

hardness In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation or abrasion (mechanical), abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardn ...

5 to 6; the

specific gravity Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water (molecule), wa ...

varies from 3.7 to 4.7. The streak is brownish black and the fracture smooth. The mineral often contains admixed impurities, such as iron hydroxides. It is soluble in

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gastric acid in the dig ...

with evolution of

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine is ...

gas.

History and occurrence

The name has reference to this characteristic appearance, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for (naked, smooth) and (black); a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

ized form is calvonigrite. It is a common and important ore of manganese, occurring under the same conditions and having the same commercial applications as

pyrolusite Pyrolusite is a mineral consisting essentially of manganese dioxide ( Mn O2) and is important as an ore of manganese.. It is a black, amorphous appearing mineral, often with a granular, fibrous, or columnar structure, sometimes forming reniform c ...

. It is found at many localities; amongst those which have yielded typical botryoidal specimens may be mentioned the Restormel iron mine at

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, Brendon Hills in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, Hoy in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...

, Sayn near Coblenz, Hout Bay near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, and Crimora in Augusta county, Virginia. With pyrolusite it is extensively mined in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

, and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

Image gallery

File:Psilomelane-167850.jpg, A specimen of manganese oxide File:Psilomelane-dendrites.jpg, Dendritic psilomelane on a cobble Image:Psilomelane+Hausmanite.jpg, Slab of manganese ore showing a mixture of hausmannite and psilomelane in a zonal arrangement and a radiating mass of white

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

at the center File:Psilomelane-pyrolusite 7100.4947.jpg, Psilomelane and pyrolusite from Limestone Quarries, Solnhofen, Franconia, Bavaria, Germany File:Vanadinite-Psilomelane-112809.jpg, Vanadinite and psilomelane from Taouz, Er Rachidia Province, Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Morocco

References

*
Mindat with locality data

Webmineral

{{Manganese minerals Barium minerals Manganese(II,IV) minerals Oxide minerals Monoclinic minerals

Formula

Characteristics

History and occurrence

Image gallery

See also

References