Ekanite
Ekanite is an gem that is extemely rare. It was found in 1953 in the treasure gravels at Eheliyagoda, near Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. It’s also bought at Mt. Sainte Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. Ekanite may be strongly radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403 (greater than 70 Bq/gram) due to the presence of Thorium (Th). Ekanite is almost always completely metamict. Metamictization is a procedure that is natural to radiation bombardment that benefits within the gradual and finally complete destruction of a mineral’s crystal lattice leaving the mineral amorphous. Ekanite is situated in shades of brown and green as are other metamict gems such as for example low Zircon and Sphene.
| Category: | Silicate mineral |
| Chemical Formula: | Ca2ThSi8O20 |
| Calcium Thorium Silicate | |
| Molecular Weight: | 856.87 gm |
| Composition: | Calcium | 9.35 % | Ca | 13.09 % | CaO |
| Thorium | 27.08 % | Th | 30.81 % | ThO2 | |
| Silicon | 26.22 % | Si | 56.10 % | SiO2 | |
| Oxygen | 37.34 % | O | |||
| 100.00 % | 100.00 % | = TOTAL OXIDE |
| Crystallography: | Tetragonal – Trapezohedral (maybe metamict) |
| Crystal Habit: | Poorly-formed pyramidal crystals, to 1 cm, as clusters of grains; rounded massive. |
| Twinning: | None |
| Cleavage: | Distinct on [101], indistinct on [001] |
| Fracture: | Irregular, Uneven |
| Tenacity: | Brittle |
| Moh’s Hardness: | 5.0 – 6.5 |
| Density: | 3.28 – 3.32 (g/cm3) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Strong; GRapi = 542,060.77 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) |
| Other: | May be metamict due to radiation. |
| Color: | Colorless, Yellow, Light to Dark Green, Brown, Red from inclusions |
| Transparency: | Transparent to Translucent |
| Luster: | Vitreous |
| Refractive Index: | 1.590 – 1.596 Uniaxial ( – ) |
| Birefringence: | 0.0120 |
| Dispersion: | n/a |
| Pleochroism: | n/a |
