Leonite Mineral Data

[Newest Minerals] [Minerals for Sale] [Educational Articles] [About Us] [Image Gallery]
John Betts - Fine Minerals
Classic minerals, out-of-print books & magazines, plus informative articles for collectors

General Leonite Information

Chemical Formula:

K2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 366.69 gm

Potassium 21.32 % K 25.69 % K₂O

Magnesium 6.63 % Mg 10.99 % MgO

Hydrogen 2.20 % H 19.65 % H₂O

Sulfur 17.49 % S 43.67 % SO₃

Oxygen 52.36 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

K₂Mg(SO₄)₂•4(H₂O)

Environment:

Secondary mineral of metamorphic origin in marine salt deposits.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1896

Locality:

Leopoldshall, Germany. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Leo Strippelmann, Director of the salt works at Westeregeln, Germany.

Name Pronunciation:

Leonite

Synonym:

ICSD 30991

PDF 21-995

Leonite Image

Images:

Leonite

Comments: Translucent pale yellow crystalline massive leonite, with white alteration coating.
Location: Near Carlsbad, Eddy County, New Mexico, USA. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Leonite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =1.2373:1:1.0378

Cell Dimensions:

a = 11.78, b = 9.52, c = 9.88, Z = 4; beta = 95.29° V = 1,103.28 Den(Calc)= 2.21

Crystal System:

Monoclinic - PrismaticH-M Symbol (2/m) Space Group: C 2/m

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 5.87(1), 2.371(0.5), 1.946(0.45),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: ( 1 1 1) ( 0 1 0) ( 3 1 0) ( 1 1 1) ( 2 0 1) ( 3 1 1) ( 1 1 0) ( 1 0 0) ( 3 1 1) ( 0 0 1)

Warning: this large pop-up is very compute intensive and may not work well with some computers.

Crystal Structure:

Mouse
drag1 - LMB Manipulate Structure
drag2 - RMB Resize/Rotate
Keyboard
S - Stereo Pair on/off
H - Help Screen
I - Data Info
A - Atoms On/Off
P - Polyhedra On/Off
B - Bonds On/Off
Help on Above

Hertweck B , Giester G , Libowitzky E , American Mineralogist , 86 (2001) p.1282-1292, The crystal structures of the low-temperature phases of leonite-type compounds,, K2Me(SO4)2.4H2O (Me=Mg,Mn,Fe), Sample: K2Mg(SO4)2.4H2O, T = 100 K

View Additional jPOWD Structure files for Leonite
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Physical Properties of Leonite

Cleavage:

None

Color:

Colorless, Light yellow.

Density:

2.201

Diaphaneity:

Transparent

Fracture:

Conchoidal - Fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, (e.g. quartz).

Hardness:

2.5-3 - Finger Nail-Calcite

Luster:

Vitreous - Waxy

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Leonite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.013 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.009 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2184,KPDmeas= 0.2193,KC= 0.2164
Ncalc = 1.48

Optical Data:

Biaxial (+), a=1.479, b=1.482, g=1.487, bire=0.0080, 2V(Calc)=76, 2V(Meas)=90.

Calculated Properties of Leonite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.24 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Leonite =2.21 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0082201323
Boson Index = 0.9917798677

Photoelectric:

PE_Leonite= 3.33 barns/electron
U=PE_Leonite x r_electron= 7.47 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 312.12 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Leonite per GRapi unit = 0.32 (%)

Estimated Radioactivity from Leonite - barely detectable

Leonite Classification

Dana Class:

29.03.03.03 (29)Hydrated Acid and Sulfates

(29.03)where (A+)2 B (XO4)2 · x(H2O)

(29.03.03)Blodite Group

29.03.03.01 Blodite Na2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O) P 2₁/a 2/m

29.03.03.02 Nickelblodite Na2(Ni,Mg)(SO4)2•4(H2O) P 2₁/a 2/m

29.03.03.03 Leonite K2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

29.03.03.04 Mereiterite! K2Fe(SO4)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

29.03.03.05 Changoite! Na2Zn(SO4)2•4(H2O) P 2₁/a 2/m

Strunz Class:

07.CC.55 07 - SULFATES (SELENATES, TELLURATES)

07.C - Sulfates (selenates, etc.) without Additional Anions, with H2O

07.CC -With medium-sized and large cations

07.CC.55 Mereiterite! K2Fe(SO4)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

07.CC.55 Leonite K2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

Other Leonite Information

References:

NAME( AntBidBlaNic5) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Leonite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - Google Images
6 - Google Scholar
7 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
9 - MinDAT
10 - MinMax(Deutsch)
11 - MinMax(English)
12 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Leonite using:

[ALTAVISTA] [AOL] [All-The-Web] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [MAMMA] [MSN.COM] [Netscape] [Scirus] [Teoma] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Leonite :

AA Mineral Specimens

B & L Fine Minerals

Crystalarium.com

Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals

Dan Weinrich Auctions

Dakota Matrix

Desert Winds Gems and Minerals

John Betts Fine Minerals

Mason's Minerals

Mineral News

Mineral of the Month Club

Wrights Rock Shop

Translate Leonite Mineral Data :

Ask about Leonite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Leonite Specimen Label here :

Leonite

K2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O)
Dana No: 29.03.03.03 Strunz No: 07.CC.55
Locality:

Notes: