Mineralpedia Details for Wollastonite

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Wollastonite

Named for William Hyde Wollaston, the English mineralogist and chemist who is famous for discovering the elements palladium and rhodium. These elements were discovered in the process of Wollaston’s development of a practical method of processing platinum ore. Additionally, Wollaston was the first to observe Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum which led to the detection of the solar elements and he is the inventor of the camera lucida, the goniometer, and the Wollaston prism. Wollastonite is common in contact metamorphosed carbonates, the intruding igneous rock, and the skarn along the contact between the two. It is a widely distributed mineral that can, on occasion, show a yellow cathodoluminescence.

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

Formula: CaSiO₃
Crystal System: Triclinic
Crystal Habit: Tabular, short, prismatic; fibrous, compact, massive
Cleavage: Perfect, Good
Luster: Vitreous, pearly
Color: White, grey, light green, pink, brown, red, yellow
Streak: White
Class: Pinacoidal
Fracture: Irregular/Uneven
Hardness: 4.5-5
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Wollastonite from Commercial quarry, Crestmore, Riverside Co., California, United States

Wollastonite is almost indicative of a skarn deposit as a calc-silicate mineral. This specimen features long, divergent crystals to 4.5cm.

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Wollastonite from Keeseville, Essex Co., New York, United States

Long, bladed pearly crystals compact in matrix.

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Wollastonite from Magnet Cove, Hot Spring Co., Arkansas, United States

A tightly packed aggregate of white, shimmering Wollastonite with crystal blades to over 3cm. Wollastonite is typically found in thermally metamorphed siliceous carbonate deposits, skarns and carbonites.