Zigrasite
A magnesium-zirconium phosphate known only from the Dunton Quarry's 1972 gem-tourmaline pocket in Maine.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Zigrasite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the phosphate class, with the chemical formula MgZr(PO₄)₂·4H₂O.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group P-1). It is a member of the Malhmoodite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3; specific gravity 2.76; White streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Zig, IMA status: approved, named in 2008.
One of the last minerals formed in a tourmaline-bearing pocket in a complex rare-element granitic pegmatite.
It is found associated with Tourmaline, microcline, quartz, albite, beryl, amblygonite-montebrasite, childrenite-eosphorite, apatite.
The mineral was named to honor James Zigras (b. 1981) of Paramus, New Jersey, USA., the mineral collector who discovered the mineral.