Fluorapatite
Mineral Ca5(PO4)3F
Also called Apatite, Asparagus stone, and Moroxite
About it
The common apatite: hexagonal prisms that a knife only just scratches, the 5 on the Mohs scale. Fine crystals come from Cerro de Mercado in Mexico, Panasqueira in Portugal, Morocco, and Ontario.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Phosphate, apatite group
- Formula
- Ca5(PO4)3F
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 5
- Specific gravity
- 3.1–3.25
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy), resinous
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Colours
- green, blue, yellow, violet, pink, brown, colourless
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- poor basal; conchoidal fracture
- Under UV light
- varies: often yellow, orange, or violet under UV
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.