Anthophyllite
Nuummite (or Nuumite) is just a trade name for a rock that is metamorphic primarily of two amphiboles; Anthophyllite and Gedrite. It was originally found just in the Godthabsfjord area located in West Greenland nearby the money of Nuuk. This material has typically been a base that is black with bright iridescent flashes of silver, yellow, copper, red, blue and green. A current get in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania has produced material with iridescent flashes of deep blue Anthophyllite needles on an opaque background that is black. This material that is new in 2009 was called Sahara Nuummite or Jenakite.
Nuummite is of volcanic origin formed about 3.8 billion years ago making it one of the oldest stones found on earth. Nuummite is also said to own strong metaphysical and recovery that is religious.
| Category: | Inosilicates Amphibole |
| Chemical Formula: | (Mg2)(Mg5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| Magnesium Silicate Hydroxide | |
| Molecular Weight: | 780.82 gm |
| Composition: | Magnesium | 21.79 % | Mg | 36.13 % | MgO |
| Silicon | 28.78 % | Si | 61.56 % | SiO2 | |
| Hydrogen | 0.26 % | H | 2.31 % | H2O | |
| Oxygen | 49.18 % | O | |||
| 100.00 % | 100.00 % | = TOTAL OXIDE |
| Crystallography: | Orthorhombic – Dipyramidal |
| Crystal Habit: | Crystals rare, to 25 cm; as bladed aggregates of unterminated prismatic crystals. Commonly lamellar or fibrous, asbestiform. |
| Twinning: | None |
| Cleavage: | Perfect on {210}, Imperfect on {010} and {100} |
| Fracture: | Conchoidal |
| Tenacity: | Brittle |
| Moh’s Hardness: | 5.5 – 6.0 |
| Density: | 2.85 – 3.57 (g/cm3) |
| Optical Properties: | Biaxial (+) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Not Radioactive |
| Colour: | Gray, Brownish Gray, Yellowish Brown, Clove-Brown, Brownish Green, Emerald-Green; in thin section, Colourless to Pale Green or Yellow |
| Transparency: | Opaque |
| Lustre: | Vitreous, Pearly on cleavages |
| Refractive Index: | 1.598 – 1.697 Biaxial ( + ) |
| Birefringence: | 0.0170 – 0.0230 |
| Dispersion: | Weak to Moderate; r > v or r < v |
| Pleochroism: | When Fe-rich, moderate; X = clove-brown, yellowish brown, grayish brown; Y = clove-brown, brown-gray, brownish; Z = clove-brown to dark brown, grayish blue to green, lilac. |
| Anisotrophism: | Very Strong; Color in reflected light: |
