Eucryptite
Mineral LiAlSiO4
About it
A lithium ore of pegmatites, usually white masses intergrown with albite and best spotted by its pink to red glow under shortwave UV; Bikita, Zimbabwe, and Manitoba's Tanco mine.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (nesosilicate), phenakite group
- Formula
- LiAlSiO4
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 6.5
- Specific gravity
- 2.65–2.67
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy)
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Colours
- colourless, white
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- in two directions; conchoidal fracture
- Under UV light
- pink to red or orange under shortwave UV
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.