Lime formed to piping bringing thermal water to Katlanovo spa, Petrovec, North Macedonia. — Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lime
Calcium oxide — quicklime — rare in nature but fundamental to industry, made by calcining limestone in a kiln.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Lime is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula CaO.
It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system (space group Fm3m). It is a member of the Rocksalt structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3.5; specific gravity 3.35; Vitreous luster.
IMA symbol Lm, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding.
Found in thermally metamorphosed calcareous ejecta (Vesuvius, Italy); in burning coal measures (Kopeysk, Russia); an accessory phase by oxidative sintering in medium-temperature.
It is found associated with Calcite (Vesuvius, Italy); fluorellestadite, periclase, magnesioferrite, hematite, srebrodolskite, anhydrite (Kopeysk, Russia); calcite, spurrite.
The name comes from the Old English, quicklime.