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Download hereGENERAL DESCRIPTION
Serandite is a rare hydrated calcium, sodium and manganese silicate. Its prismatic crystals are generally of a beautiful pink-salmon colour, due to manganese.
The most beautiful samples were discovered at the Mont Saint-Hilaire, where serandite remains the most coveted species of this deposit, contributing thus to make this last deposit the one that has the greatest number of different minerals species in the world, distributed in a relatively small quarry.
There has been three important discoveries, the superb aesthetic samples which were found measured up to 20 cm in length (1973, 1981 and 1988).
The type of this species is with the National Natural history museum of Natural History of Washington, USA.
HISTORY : Species dedicated to J.M. Serand, amateur mineralogist who brought back the first samples
Species first described in 1931 by Alfred Lacroix (1863-1948), French mineralogist and geologist
Type-locality: Rouma Island, Archipelago, Guinea
CHEMICAL FORMULA : Na(Mn,Ca)2 Si3O8 (OH)
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Triclinic
COLOR : Pink, red, salmon, orange
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreux to greasy
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGIE : Acicular crystals, prismatic, aggregates, massive
HARDNESS : 5,0- 5,5
CHEMICAL CLASS: 3,42
DENSITY : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Wollastonite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/F.18-80
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.DG.05
