Apatite

The name of the mineral apatite, which crystallizes in the pyramidal hemihedral section of the hexagonal system, says a lot about its mystery. For a long time it was mixed with aquamarine, fluorspar, from here and the name (in translation I'm deceiving). Apatite forms prismatic crystals (see Fig.) With the planes of the pyramid, the base-pinead, is also found in the form of crystalline masses, round crystalline grains, and also in the form of fibrous and dense masses called phosphorite.

The name of the mineral apatite, which crystallizes in the pyramidal hemihedral section of the hexagonal system, says a lot about its mystery

Fig.1. Apatite (size 9 cm, found in East Kazakhstan).

Apatite is interesting and its properties. It is inferior in strength to feldspar, colorless or colored in green, blue, violet, red, gray, for the most part light colors, has a glassy sheen, is transparent or translucent. In appearance, apatite is very similar to precious stones, but differs from them by small hardness.

The chemical composition of apatite is phosphoric acid lime with an admixture of chloride and calcium fluoride; the phosphoric acid content reaches 42%, the lime is about 50%, chlorine up to 6%, fluorine about 3%; in acids decomposes. When heated, some varieties of the mineral glow with colored light.

As an extraneous impurity, apatite in the form of long or short prismatic crystals is found in greater or lesser amounts in all volcanic rocks. Beautiful crystals are found in Saxony, in Norway, in Canada, at Ural, etc. These crystals are found in druses of granites with tourmaline and lepidolite, in deposits tin ores, in veins, contacts with calcite and scapolite. Some varieties of apatite have special names: so, the bluish-green apatite is called moroxite, the greenish-yellow is called the walrus stone, the green is the asparagus stone.

Dense and earthy phosphorite, used in the past for fertilizer fields, forms huge deposits in England, France, Spain and Russia. Today, less is used for the production of valuable phosphate fertilizers, because in comparison with pure apatite it does not have enough oxide phosphorus.

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