Home > American Minerals – March 20 > MS1314 Hydroxylellestadite
Hydroxylellestadite - Sold
- Commercial quarry
- Crestmore
- Riverside County
- California
- U.S.A.
- 4.9 by 4.6 by 3.1 cm – Miniature specimen (fits into a 5 cm cube)
Hydroxylellestadite is a mineral with a long history in the literature. McConnell (1937) described ellestadite as a sulfate-silicate substituted apatite with chlorine. Further analysis, and recalculation of the original analysis, has shown the material to be hydroxyl dominant, and the mineral now carries the species name hydroxylellestadite (Pasero et al. 2010). The mineral name honors Ruben B. Ellestad (1900-1993), American chemist of Minneapolis.
This specimen features a large ellestadite crystal section, 9 mm long and 7 mm wide, embedded in blue crystalline marble. Typical 2-3 mm blebs of orange hydroxyellestadite are embedded through the rest of the matrix. A good example!
