Mineralpedia Details for Hureaulite

Named after the type locality of the mineral at Les Hureaux in Saint-Sylvestre, Limousin, France. Hureaulite is an uncommon mineral that can be found in additional localities in France, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the United States including here in South Dakota in the Tip Top, Bull Moose, and White Elephant mines among many others in the Black Hills, Brazil, Rwanda, and Pakistan, among others. It is a secondary mineral that forms late-stage in granite pegmatites by the alteration of primary phosphates.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/hureaulite.pdf

Formula

Mn²⁺₅(PO₄)₂(PO₃OH)₂·4H₂O 

Crystal System

Monoclinic 

Crystal Habit

Massive, Compact, Fibrous 

Cleavage

Distinct, None, None 

Luster

Vitreous - Greasy 

Color

red, white, grayish white, yellowish white, reddish white 

Streak

white 

Class

Monoclinic - Prismatic 

Fracture

Brittle - Uneven 

Hardness

5 

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Mindat

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Light pink or salmon colored crystals to 1.5cm associated with bright green Tavorite and/or glassy brown Jahnsite (CaMnMg) and light purple to grey Leucophosphite.

Pink crystals aggregates to 3mm covering most of matrix associated with black Rockbridgeite.

Cluster of beautiful pink Hureaulite crystals to 1cm. Overall 6cm specimen.

Superb, fine mineral specimen with pinkish red, translucent crystals of Hureaulite to 8mm in divergent groups and showing excellent terminations. It is associated with 0.5mm crystals of equant, shiny black Barbosalite crystals, which also comprises the matrix.

This specimen was featured as an entry in the Barlow book on page 142 (specimen 2557) and comes with the tag.

Exceptional pink, large crystals to 9mm with most being good, well-defined crystals to about 6-7mm. Near the center is the black, botryoidal Rockbridgeite, a typical association.

Dark pinkish red crystals to 1cm in a cluster. Exceptional specimen from this locality.