Pyroxmangite Locality: Taguchi mine, Shidara, Kita-Shidara-gun, Aichi Prefecture, Chubu Region, Honshu Island, Japan (Locality at mindat.org) Size: 7.9 x 7.0 x — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pyroxmangite
The high-pressure, low-temperature dimorph of rhodonite — a manganese pyroxenoid.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Pyroxmangite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Mn²⁺SiO₃.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group C-1).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5.5–6; specific gravity 3.61–3.8; typically pink or brown; white streak; Pearly to vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Pxm, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1913.
Found in regionally metamorphosed manganese ore deposits and manganiferous rocks, perhaps with lower temperature history than rhodonite-bearing rocks.
It is found associated with Spessartine, tephroite, alleghanyite, hausmannite, pyrophanite, alabandite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite.
A combination of PYROXene and MANGanese, in allusion to the mineral's structure and composition.
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