:Locality: Har Parsa, Hatrurim Formation, Negev Desert, Israel Size: 1.5 × 1 × 0.3 cm Description: Polished preparation of this extremely rare species: levantite, from the Type Locality. It is a phosphate-silicate member of the latiumite group. Rim on latiumite-levantite crystals and a single crystal up to 0.03 micrometers. Accompanied by wollastonite, diopside-essenite, gehlenite, anothite, andradite-schorlomite, leucite, celsian, hematite, baryte and latiumite-levantite phase 50/50. The correct type locality is: Har Parsa (Mt. Parsa), Hatrurim Basin, Negev Desert, near Arad, Israel (31°12′ 29′′N, 35°16′45.6′′E). Approval Year: 2017 - IMA2017-010. SEM image — Photo: Joan Rosell , from rosellminerals.com · CC BY-SA 4.0
Levantite
Levantite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula KCa₃Al₂(SiO₄)(Si₂O₇)(PO₄).
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group P2_1). It is a member of the Latiumite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5; specific gravity 2.957; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Lev, IMA status: approved, named in 2017.
Found in pyrometamorphic gehlenite-wollastonite hornfels.
It is found associated with Gehlenite, wollastonite, clinopyroxene of the esseneite-diopside series, anorthite, Ti-bearing andradite.
The name refers to the Levant region, a geographical term referring to an area in the eastern Mediterranean that includes parts of Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Cyprus, and Turkey.