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Hematite & Rutile Psm Ilmenite

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MGR806560

Hematite & Rutile Psm Ilmenite

Classic Locality

Description Tabs

Description
Locality: 
Mwinilunga, North-Western Province, Zambia
Class: 
Combination
Size Range: 
Miniature (4.5-7 cm)
Size: 
6.6 × 5.1 × 3 cm
Description

I got this specimen labeled as Hematite with Rutile. I never saw this material before and so I did some research and found an very interesting information. In 2007 Dr. Joan Viñals, a professor of Materials Science and Metallurgy Engineering Department of Barcelona University, Spain, examined similar specimens microscopically and determined that these specimens are in fact psuedomorphs of rutile and hematite after ilmenite. 

According to Dr. Viñals, the hematite is in the form of fine-grained masses occupying the interstices between the rutile crystals. He suggests that the original ilmenite (iron titanium oxide) crystals were altered hydrothermally and from that this mix of rutile (titanium oxide) and hematite (iron oxide) formed, yet the shape of the original ilmenite crystal was preserved. Textures of this type have been observed previously by Ramdohr (1981) who described the rutile as a trigonal network in the basal sections of former ilmenite with fine-grained hematite in the rutile interstices. The trigonal network of rutile, of course, is polysynthetically twinned (sagenitic) rutile, yet its being oriented with respect to the former ilmenite suggests that it is also epitaxial.

Mineral Data
What's on the rock

Hematite

Formula: 
Fe2O3
Strunz: 
4.CB.05
Crystal System: 
Trigonal
Hardness: 
5.0 - 6.0

Rutile

Formula: 
TiO2
Strunz: 
4.DB.05
Crystal System: 
Tetragonal - Ditetragonal Dipyramidal
Hardness: 
6.0 - 6.5
Type Locality: 
Rutile locality, Horcajuelo de la Sierra, Madrid, Spain

Ilmenite

Formula: 
Fe2+TiO3
Strunz: 
4.CB.05
Crystal System: 
Trigonal - Rhombohedral
Hardness: 
5.0 - 6.0
Type Locality: 
Ilmen Natural Reserve, Ilmen Mts, Chelyabinsk Oblast', Southern Urals, Urals Region, Russia...