Ilmenite (Weight: 64g) – Place of discovery: Blankbruch am Dornberg, Haibach, Spessart, Germany — Photo: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ilmenite
Also known as: Titanic iron ore.
Iron-titanium oxide — the world's main source of titanium and titanium-dioxide white pigment, weakly magnetic and steel-black.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Ilmenite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula Fe²⁺Ti⁴⁺O₃.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group R-3). It is a member of the Corundum structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5–6; specific gravity 4.72; typically black; Black to reddish brown streak; Metallic to submetallic luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Ilm, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1827.
A common accessory mineral disseminated in igneous rocks, as granites, gabbros, and kimberlites; in granite pegmatites, carbonatites, and high-grade metamorphic rocks.
It is found associated with Magnetite, hematite, rutile, ulvöspinel, pyrrhotite, apatite.
The name refers to the early-noted occurrence in the Il’men Mountains, Russia.
Collections: Metals & Native Elements, Everyday Minerals.