Home > Kalahari Manganese Field – March 18 > MS0908 Manjiroite
Manjiroite - Sold
- Smartt mine
- Kalahari Manganese Field
- Northern Cape Province
- South Africa
- 6.6 by 4.3 by 3.1 cm – Small cabinet specimen (under 10 cm)
Manjiroite is a rare sodium bearing manganese oxide. The mineral name honors Dr. Manjiro Watanabe, mineralogist and economic geologist at Tohoku University, Japan (Nambu & Tanida, 1967). Recently, Gutzmer & Beukes (2000) characterized certain asbestiform manganese minerals at the Smartt mine, and discovered locally abundant primary manjiroite. This is such a sample, showing compact fibrous manjiroite forming a band to 1.7 cm thick on braunite lutite matrix. Nice piece. Rare!
