Vistepite
Vistepite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Mn₄SnB₂O₂(Si₂O₇)₂(OH)₂.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group P-1).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 4.5; specific gravity 3.67; White streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Vtp, IMA status: approved, named in 1991.
Found in a rhodonite vein in biotite-quartz hornfels at the margin of a tin-bearing granite massif.
It is found associated with Rhodonite, quartz, tephroite, spessartine, galena, hÄubnerite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, stannite, rhodochrosite, cassiterite, celsian, fluorite, helvite.
The name refers to the mineralogist and systematic mineral collector Victor Ivanovich Stepanov (1924–1988), A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.