A single crystal group of the very rare Na carbonate mineral wegscheiderite from the TL in Wyoming (Perkins Well No 1, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States of America). Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY 4.0
Wegscheiderite
Wegscheiderite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the carbonate class, with the chemical formula Na₅H₃(CO₃)₄.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group P-1).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 2.5–3; specific gravity 2.341; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Weg, IMA status: approved, named in 1961.
Found as a replacement of trona in a lacustrine deposit.
It is found associated with Trona, halite.
In honor of Rudolf Franz Johann Wegscheider (1859–1935), Austrian chemist, who first synthesized the compound.