Axinite

Axinite is a brown to violet-brown, or reddish-brown bladed group of minerals composed of calcium aluminium boro-silicate, Template:Chem2. Axinite is pyroelectric and piezoelectric.

The axinite group includes:

• Axinite-(Fe) or ferroaxinite, Ca₂Fe²⁺Al₂BOSi₄O₁₅(OH) iron rich, clove-brown, brown, plum-blue, pearl-gray<ref>Handbook of Mineralogy: Ferroaxinite</ref>
• Axinite-(Mg) or magnesioaxinite, Ca₂MgAl₂BOSi₄O₁₅(OH) magnesium rich, pale blue to pale violet; light brown to light pink<ref>Handbook of Mineralogy: Magnesioaxinite</ref>
• Axinite-(Mn) or manganaxinite, Ca₂Mn²⁺Al₂BOSi₄O₁₅(OH) manganese rich, honey-yellow, clove-brown, brown to blue<ref>Handbook of Mineralogy: Manganaxinite</ref>
• Tinzenite (CaFe²⁺Mn²⁺)₃Al₂BOSi₄O₁₅(OH) iron – manganese intermediate, yellow, brownish yellow-green<ref>Handbook of Mineralogy: Tinzenite</ref>

Axinite is sometimes used as a gemstone.<ref>Tables of Gemstone Identification By Roger Dedeyne, Ivo Quintens p.147</ref>

Gallery

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  Clove-brown axinite crystals to 2.3 cm set atop matrix from the West Bor Pit at Dalnegorsk, Russia
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  Chloritized bladed crystals of axinite forming on adularia from the Swiss Alps
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  Tinzenite on calcite, 4.5 × 3.5 × 3 cm. Wessels Mine, Kalahari manganese fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
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  Manganaxinite (Axinite-(Mn)), with sharp curving crystals to 4 cm. West Bor Pit at Dalnegorsk, Russia