Triplite Locality: Alchuri (Alchori; Aschudi), Shigar Valley , Skardu District , Baltistan , Northern Areas , Pakistan ( Locality at mindat.org ) Size: thumbnail, 1.2 x 1 x 0.9 cm Triplite This was, to me, one of the most startling and exciting new finds of the show even if both the find and its audience are admittedly very small. Triplite is an EXTREMELY rare manganese/iron phosphate that has not been previously reported as being from Pakistan. Crystals are simply unavailable and crystals of beauty unprecedented. This small parcel turned up just ahead of the show, and was XRAYED at both the Smithsonian and the GIA (Gem Institute of America). As there were very few crystals in the lot, it was basically gem rough and most of it was then promptly cut into gemstones just before the show, because of the shocking color for the colored stone collectors. This etched crystal is one of just a very few pieces from the find that I am aware of, that makes for a specimen-quality example. I believe this find will remain as rare, if not more so, than the vaerynynites which come from the same region and command such a premium. In fact, if this were vaerynynites , because i suppose the name is so much more recognizable as one of those "holy grails" of rare pakistani species, it would paradoxically be worth more - but triplite in this quality is definitely the rarer of the two. 1.2 x 1 x 0.9 cm — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Triplite
A brown manganese-iron fluorophosphate of granite pegmatites, described in 1813 from Limousin.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Triplite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the phosphate class, with the chemical formula Mn²⁺₂(PO₄)F.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group I2/a). It is a member of the Triplite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5–5.5; specific gravity 3.5–3.9; White to brown streak; Vitreous to resinous luster; refractive index 1.673; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Trl, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1813.
A principal primary phosphate, or replacing earlier species, commonly lithiophilite, in complex zoned granite pegmatites; in hydrothermal tin veins.
It is found associated with Triploidite–wolfeite, triphylite–lithiophilite, phosphosiderite, vivianite, apatite, tourmaline, sphalerite, pyrite, quartz.
Its name comes from the Greek for threefold, probably for its cleavages.