Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Kayes, Sandare mines, Mali
SIZE : 4.1 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm

This sample belonging to garnet group is a grossular. It is an opaque brown monocrystal. It has a dodecaedre shape (12 diamond-faced faces) which edges are truncated.

This glossular comes from Sandare mines in Mali. The Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle could obtain this specimen thanks to support from Total. It is kept in the storage rooms of the collections (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire,
© MNHN.

SPECIE : Grossulaire

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Latin " Ribes Grossularia" or gooseberry tree, in reference to its color

Species first described in 1811 by Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), German geologist

Type-locality: Akhtaragda river, Vilyui basin, Yakoutia, Siberia, Russia

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ca3 Al2 (SiO4)3
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Cubic
COLOR : Yellow green to dark green, yellow, colorless, brown
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to opaque
LUSTER : Vitreous to resineous
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Dodecahedric crystals, trapezohedric, hexaoctahedric
HARDNESS : 6,5-7,0
DENSITY : 3,594

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Grenat
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/A.08-70
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.AD.15

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Grossulaire

Grossular

MNHN N°196.35

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