Chrysotile
Mineral Mg3Si2O5(OH)4
Also called White asbestos, Asbestos, and Clinochrysotile
Take care.
- Can shed asbestos fibres: Keep it in a closed box, and never break, saw, sand, or scrape it.
About it
Silky, flexible fibres in veins through serpentinite that pull apart like cotton; white asbestos, once mined at Thetford Mines and Val-des-Sources (formerly Asbestos), Quebec. Keep sealed and never break or sand it.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (phyllosilicate), serpentine group
- Formula
- Mg3Si2O5(OH)4
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2.5–3
- Specific gravity
- 2.5–2.6
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- silky
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- white, grey-green, golden, olive green
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- fibrous; separates into flexible fibres
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.