Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Peinpyite, Mogok, Burma
SIZE : 17 x 6 x 3 mm (the tallest)

Here are two isolated crystals of silimanite. They are iron-gray with a metallic lustre. The tallest measures 17 x 6 x 3 mm. Despite their "small" dimensions, little isolated crystals of these dimensions are rather exceptionnal.

These two samples comes from Peinpyite, near Mogok in Burma. They have been acquired thanks to support from Total. It is kept in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

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

SPECIE : Sillimanite

HISTORY : Species dedicated to professor Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), professor of chemistry and geology at Yale University

Species described in 1824 by Bowen

Type-locality: Chester, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA and Vltava, Bohemia, Czech Republic

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Al2 SiO5
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombique
COLOR : Colourless or white to gray, brown, green-gray
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous to subadamantine
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Fibrous, massive. Prismatic crystals
HARDNESS : 6,5-7,5
DENSITY : 3,24

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Sillimanite-andalousite-kyanite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/B.02-10
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.AF.05

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Sillimanite

Sillimanite

MNHN N°206.63

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