Hedenbergite
Hedenbergite is a rock mineral that is developing contact metamorphic rocks and skarns plus some igneous rocks and ore bodies. It’s a mineral that is common rarely discovered in the gem trade. Hedenbergite is a known member of the Pyroxene number of minerals which includes Aegirine, Diopside, Hedenbergite, Hypersthene, Jadeite, Petedunnite and Spodumene. Hedenbergite is darker that is usually much its gemstone cousin Diopside. It is mostly opaque, seldom dark and translucent green to black. It’s also rarely found as fine needle inclusions in quartz making for a very gem that is appealing.
Localities that are few studied material include: in Sweden, at Nordmark, Värmland, and Yxsjö, Örebro. From Präagraten, Tirol, Austria. At Fürstenberg, Saxony, Germany. From Rio Marina, Elba, Italy. On Seriphos, Greece. In the USA, at Iron Hill, Gunnison County, Colorado; fine crystals from the Laxey mine, South Hill, Owyhee Co., Idaho; in the Pima district, Pima County, and the Westinghouse mine, Santa Cruz County, Arizona; at Hanover, Grant County, New Mexico. Within the Vesturhorn intrusion, southeast Iceland. Large crystals from Cracked Hill, New South Wales, Australia. In the Obira mine, Bungo, Oita Prefecture, Japan. At Tirodi, Madhya Pradesh, and Kacharwali, Nagpur region, Maharashtra, India. Fine crystals from the Skardu area, Pakistan. At Dal’negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia.
| Category: | Pyroxenes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chemical Formula: | CaFe2+Si2O6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Calcium Iron Silicate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Molecular Weight: | 248.09 gm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Composition: |
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| Crystallography: | Monoclinic – Prismatic |
| Crystal Habit: | As short prismatic crystals, to 5 cm. In columnar or acicular aggregates; granular, lamellar, massive. |
| Twinning: | Simple and polysynthetic twinning on {100} and {010}. |
| Cleavage: | Good on {110}, (110) ^ (110) ~87°; partings on {100} and {010} |
| Fracture: | Conchoidal |
| Tenacity: | Brittle |
| Moh’s Hardness: | 5.5 – 6.5 |
| Density: | 3.56 (g/cm3) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Not Radioactive |
| Color: | Black, dark Green, Green-Brown; Brownish Green in thin section. |
| Transparency: | Transparent to Opaque |
| Luster: | Vitreous or Dull |
| Refractive Index: | 1.699 – 1.757 Biaxial ( + ) |
| Birefringence: | 0.0290 |
| Dispersion: | Strong; r > v |
| Pleochroism: | Weak; X = pale green, bluish green; Y = green, bluish green; Z = green, yellow-green. |
