Detail of akatoreite mineral in rhodonite matrix. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Akatoreite
A rare manganese-aluminium silicate with an unusual hydrogen-bearing silicate unit, known from New Zealand.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Akatoreite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Mn²⁺₉Al₂Si₈O₂₄(OH)₈.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group P-1).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 6; specific gravity 3.48; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Akt, IMA status: approved, named in 1969.
Found in a manganiferous metachert and carbonate lens in schists (Akatore Creek, New Zealand); in manganiferous potassium-rich felsic metavolcanics (Norberg, Sweden).
It is found associated with Rhodochrosite, pyroxmangite, rhodonite, spessartine, quartz, tinzenite, apatite, todorokite, alabandite, hÄ ubnerite (Akatore Creek, New Zealand).
The name is derived from the locality near Akatore Creek, New Zealand.