c

Admontite, a new borate mineral from the gypsum deposit Schildmauer near Admont in Styria (Austria)

Summary Admontite is a new magnesium borate found in the gypsum deposit of Schildmauer near Admont in Styria (Austria) in association with three other new borium-containing minerals and with gypsum, anhydrite, hexahydrite, löweite, quartz and pyrite.The mineral occurs in poorly developed colourless crystals of monoclinic symmetry, which in part are elongated along thec axis and flattened on {100}. No cleavage, fracture conchoidal, hardness probably 2–3,D _meas .=1.82,D _x =1.875g·cm^–3.n =1.442±0.002,n =1.504±0.002, 2V 30°,r. AE(010),n c on (010) about 45°.a ₀=12.68,b ₀=10.07,c ₀=11.32 Å (all±0.02 Å), =109.68° (±0.1°),Z=2,space groupP2₁/c. Strongest lines of the powder pattern: 12.08(9), 7.60(10), 3.93(8), 2.68(9). Chemical composition: 2 MgO·6 B₂O₃·15 H₂O. Admontite is slowly decomposed in water. Investigations of the thermal behaviour show that the lattice breaks down between 100 and 200°C. Part of the water escapes already under 100°C, the rest between 150 and 350°C.