Tiptopite Mineral Data

Tiptopite Mineral Data +

[Content and History] [Recent Issues] [Back Issues] [Subscriptions] [Contacts]
See Also: [Diamond Crystals] [Excalibur Minerals] [Hudson Institute] [Minerals on CDROM]
Mineral News was founded some twenty years ago and has developed a following of
avid mineral collectors seeking timely information about new finds and other items
of interest to the collector community. Articles are solicited from collector and scientific authors.

General Tiptopite Information

Chemical Formula:

K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2·(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 829.47 gm

Potassium 9.43 % K 11.36 % K₂O

Sodium 4.16 % Na 5.60 % Na₂O

Lithium 2.51 % Li 5.40 % Li₂O

Calcium 2.42 % Ca 3.38 % CaO

Beryllium 6.52 % Be 18.09 % BeO

Phosphorus 22.40 % P 51.34 % P₂O₅

Hydrogen 0.49 % H 4.34 % H₂O

Oxygen 52.08 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 99.52 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

K₂Na_1.5Ca_0.5Li₃Be₆(PO₄)₆(OH)₂·(H₂O)

Environment:

Pegmatite mineral.

IMA Status:

Approved IMA 1985

Locality:

Tip Top mine, Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, USA Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for the locality.

Synonym:

ICSD 202308

PDF 38-374

Tiptopite Image

Images:

Tiptopite Montgomeryite

Comments: Clear, acicular crystals of tiptopite with red montgomeryite.
Location: Tip Top mine, Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, USA. Scale: Not Given.
© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Images:

Tiptopite Englishite Montgomeryite

Comments: Red montgomeryite lath-like crystals to 1mm in 2mm rosettes associated with clear, acicular sprays of tiptopite to 0.75mm and white cottonball-like crystals of englishite to 0.2mm.
Location: Tip Top mine, Custer Co., South Dakota, USA. Scale: Picture size 5 mm.
© Tom Loomis / Dakota Matrix

Tiptopite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:c = 1:0.40257

Cell Dimensions:

a = 11.655, c = 4.692, Z = 1; V = 551.97 Den(Calc)= 2.50

Crystal System:

Hexagonal - PyramidalH-M Symbol (6) Space Group: P 6₃

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

By Intensity(I/I_o): 2.966(1), 2.525(0.9), 2.348(0.7),

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

Peacor D R , Rouse R C , Ahn J-H , American Mineralogist , 72 (1987) p.816-820, Crystal structure of tiptopite, a framework beryllophosphate isotypic with basic, cancrinite, Note: U(1,2) for OH5 has been altered to match symmetry constraints.

Physical Properties of Tiptopite

Cleavage:

None

Color:

Colorless.

Density:

2.65

Diaphaniety:

Transparent to Translucent

Fracture:

Uneven - Flat surfaces (not cleavage) fractured in an uneven pattern.

Habit:

Acicular - Occurs as needle-like crystals.

Habit:

Radial - Crystals radiate from a center without producing stellar forms (e.g. stibnite)

Hardness:

3.5 - Copper Penny

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Tiptopite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.003 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.064 (Fair) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.222,KPDmeas= 0.2094,KC= 0.2087

Optical Data:

Uniaxial (+), w=1.551, e=1.559, bire=0.0080.

Calculated Properties of Tiptopite

Electron Density:

r_electron=2.60 gm/cc
note: r_Tiptopite=2.65 gm/cc.

Fermion Index

Fermion Index = 0.06736
Boson Index = 0.93264

Photoelectric:

PE_Tiptopite= 2.47 barns/electron
U=PE_Tiptopite x r_electron= 6.44 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 133.63 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)

Estimated Radioactivity from Tiptopite - barely detectable

Tiptopite Classification

Dana Class:

42.6.11.1 (42)Hydrated Phosphates, etc., Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen

(42.6)where (AB)2 (XO4) Zq · x(H2O)

(42.6.11)Dana Group

42.6.11.1 Tiptopite K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2·(H2O) P 6₃ 6

Strunz Class:

VII/D.02-10 VII - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates

VII/D - Water-bearing phosphates with unfamiliar anions, mostly cations of small size: Be, Li

VII/D.02 - Tiptopite series

VII/D.02-10 Tiptopite K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2·(H2O) P 6₃ 6

Other Tiptopite Information

References:

NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

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

Search for Tiptopite using:

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

Visit our Advertisers for Tiptopite :
AA Mineral Specimens
B and L Minerals
Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals
Dan Weinrich Auctions
e-Rocks Auctions
Excalibur Minerals
Exceptional Minerals
Fabre Minerals
Greenside Minerals
John Betts Fine Minerals
Masons Minerals
Minernet.it
Mineral News
Mineral of the Month Club
MineralsWeb Fine Minerals
Rockshop.cz Kalat Fine Minerals
T G Fine Minerals
Wrights Rock Shop

Translate Tiptopite Mineral Data :

Ask about Tiptopite 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 Tiptopite Specimen Label here :

Tiptopite

K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2·(H2O)
Dana No: 42.6.11.1 Strunz No: VII/D.02-10
Locality:

Notes: