Suolunite Locality: Mine Lac d'Amiante (Lake Asbestos mine; LAB mine; Black Lake mine), Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches , Québec , Canada ( Locality at mindat.org ) Size: 8.4 x 5.2 x 4.2 cm. A single surprising pocket of this material was found at the Thetford locality better known for garnets, back in the late 1990s. The whole pocket was sold to the Royal Ontario Museum at the time, before it was known this was more than just odd colored prehnite. It turned out to be quite literally the world's best suolunite by an order of magnitude. Gems were even cut from this material. Back around 1999-2000, I was able to exchange a few specimens with the ROM and this came from that lot. The unique lavender hue of this material, and the rolling surface, make it a display-worthy piece of this rarity. Small gems could also be cut from the periphery, which is fairly thick and contains translucent zones. — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Suolunite
Suolunite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Ca₂Si₂O₅(OH)₂·H₂O.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Fd2d).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3.5; specific gravity 2.63–2.68; Vitreous to resinous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Suo, IMA status: approved, named in 1965.
Found in veins cutting harzburgites in an ultramafic intrusive (Suolun, China); as a precipitate from an alkaline spring in a fault zone in basalts above an ultramafic intrusive (Al Khawd, Oman).
It is found associated with Tobermorite.
The name refers to the original locality, Suolun, China.