Mineralpedia Details for Inesite
Inesite
Named after the Greek for “fibers,” ines, in reference to its common habit. Inesite is a late-stage mineral in hydrothermal manganese deposits, and it occurs in Germany, Sweden, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, the United States, Australia, Japan, and a few other localities. Associated minerals include rhodochrosite, bementite, hausmannite, datolite, pectolite, apophyllite, ruizite, orientate, and quartz.
Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/inesite.pdf
- Formula
- Ca2Mn2+7Si10O28(OH)2·5H2O
- Crystal System
- Triclinic
- Crystal Habit
- Radial, Massive - Fibrous, Spherical
- Cleavage
- Perfect, Good, None
- Luster
- Vitreous (Glassy)
- Color
- brown, brown, pink, orange
- Streak
- white
- Class
- Triclinic - Pinacoidal
- Fracture
- Brittle - Uneven
- Hardness
- 6
- WebMineral
- View Inesite
- Mindat
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Inesite from Hale Creek mine, Trinity Co., California, United States
Crystals lining cavities from 3 to 6mm.
Inesite from N'Chwaning mines, Kuruman, Northern Cape prov., South Africa
Light pink slender prismatic Inesite crystals to 3mm with sharp terminations covering most of matrix.
Inesite from Fengjiashan mine, Huangshi, Hubei, China
Light pink bladed crystals of Inesite to 6mm.
Inesite from Zinc Corporation mine, Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Fans to 2cm of orange-pink prismatic Inesite embedded in Galena rich matrix.
Inesite from Wessels mine, Hotazel, Kalahari Mn fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
Plate of red Inesite crystals to 2mm covering matrix with a bit of colorless Aphophyllite. Label dated at 1961. Not quite as red as the digital photos turned out.
Inesite from Långban, Filipstad, Värmland, Sweden
Light reddish orange bladed crystals to 5mm.
Inesite from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Reddish orange columnar crystals in groups to 1.7cm.
Dark red bladed Inesite in tighly packed plates.
Inesite from NBHC mine, Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Pink divergent groups of prismatic crystals of Inestite. The groups are 1.5 to 2cm. Excellent specimen with great crystals and is very rich. Hard to find good specimens of Inesite these days, especially from Broken Hill.
