Aradite
A very rare barium-calcium silicate-vanadate found in the fire-metamorphosed paralavas of Israel's Hatrurim Formation.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Aradite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula BaCa₆[(SiO₄)(VO₄)](VO₄)₂F.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group R-3m). It is a member of the Zadovite structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 3.509; White streak; Vitreous luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Ara, IMA status: approved, named in 2013.
Found in paralava veins cutting gehlenite-rich pyrometamorphic rock formed by the combustion of organic matter in the sedimentary protolith or methane released by tectonic forces.
It is found associated with Zadovite, gehlenite, pseudowollastonite, wollastonite, andradite-schorlomite, rankinite, magnesioferrite, kalsilite, fluorapatite, P-rich ellestadite, larnite.
The name refers to the town, Arad, near where the first samples were collected.