Geological Properties Of Kammererite
History
Geological Properties Of Kammererite, was discovered in 1851, named in honor of Russian geologist August Alexander Kammerer, and is found in several locations around the world, including India, where this material originates. It’s often found in a micaceous state, meaning it grows in flat, thing, fragile sheets, and is very hard to tumble or carve
Kammererite mineral, which is rarely found in the world, is found in chromite deposits as reddish pink or purple-violet colors as transparent or semitransparent. Kammererite is a mineral belonging to the clinochlore group including chromium. The crystals have a transparent-translucent appearance, generally magenta (purple-reddish purple) color and perfect cleavage. The most typical location is the chromite deposit between Kesis (Ercincan-Cayırlı) and Kop (Erzurum) Mountains.
Geological Properties Of Kammererite
Even though there are many chromitite deposits in Turkey, the most productive chromitite deposits including chromian clinochlore and chromian are present in the eastern Anatolia region. Kammererite (chromian clinochlore), in essence, is one of the rarest clinochlore minerals as a sub-variety of large family of the chlorite minerals. Even though it is the monoclinic IIb-2 polytype, with symmetry C2/m, which is one of the most abundant regular-stacking one-layer chlorites occurring in nature, the crystallization of chromian clinochlore is less abundance. Hence, gem-quality magenta colored kammererite which may be formulized as [Mg5(Al, Cr, Fe)2Si3O10(OH)8] with reference to the abundance of the main oxides in the XRF bulk analyses, is only found in Turkey worldwide. Therefore, they are called Turkish kammererite. Beside of the mineral kammererite, the minerals uvarovite, magnesite, chromian spinel, chlorite and some garnets are also present in the paragenesis. Geological field observations and data in the region reveal that the kammererite specimens are crystallized as remobilized-origin on a chromitite matrix, deposited in the podiform-type chromitite ore deposits, and surrounded by the peridotitic and harzburgitic ultrabasic rocks. Thus, it can be stated that this rare mineral formation is derived from the secondary components of the hydrothermal alteration of the principle amphibole, pyroxene and biotite minerals in the surrounding peridotitic and harzburgitic (partially serpentinitic) rocks where they are embedded throughout the Northeastern Ophiolitic Belt comprising the Keşiş and Kop Mountains in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. In this study, unique loose Turkish kammererite crystals were the first time investigated as both mineralogically and gemmologically.
Kammererite mineral is one of the clinochlorine members of chlorite group in phyllosilicates. Clinochlore, which is one of the most common members of the chlorite group minerals, can be divided into three sub varieties according to body colors and implicational abundance of the main cations. These are blackish-green or bluish-green colored clinochlore (ferroan clinochlore), yellowish-green or green colored clinochlore (magnesian clinochlore), and magenta colored clinochlore (chromian clinochlore) . In fact, it is well-known that the name clinochlore derived from “clino,” which refers to the inclined optical axes and the Greek “chloros,” for “green,” its most typical color.
Kammerite Mine’s
Worldwide occurrences of chromian clinochlore (kammererite) in addition to Turkey are as follows: Australia (Coobina chromite mine, Sylvania Station, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia), Austria (Gulsen, Sommergraben, Lobminggraben, Leoben, Styria), Ethiopia (Tumut River, Sosua Region, Benishangul-Gumaz Province), Finland (Elijarvi Cr Mine, Kemi, Lapland Region), Greece (Nea Roda, Chalkidiki Prefecture Macedonia), Italy (Locana, Orco Valley, Torino Province, Piedmont), Japan (Akaishi Mine, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island), Russia (Poldnevaya village, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Middle Urals), and the United States, (Dunsmuir, Siskiyou Co., California; Cecil Co., Maryland; Green Mountain Mine, Day Book, Yancey Co., NC; Jackson Co., Oregon; Woods Chrome Mine, Texas, Little Britain Township, Lancaster Co., PA).
Physical Properties Of Kammerite
Is a Variety of: Clinochlore
Colors: Red to purplish red, cranberry red.
Hardness: 2-2.5
Fracture: Micaceous
Cleavage: Perfect basal cleavage
Formula: (Mg,Cr)6(AISi3)O10(OH)8 (Chlorite Group).
Crystallography: Monoclinic; crystals hexagonal shape, bounded by steep sided pyramids.
Refractive Index: 1.597-1.600
Birefringence: 0.003
Luminescence: None reported
Luminescence Present: No
Absorption Spectrum: Not diagnostic
Pleochroism: Strong: violet/hyacinth-red.
Optics: a = 1.597; β = 1.598; γ = 1.599-1.600. Biaxial; optic sign variable.
Optic Sign: Biaxial +, Biaxial –
Luster: Vitreous; pearly on cleavages.
Specific Gravity: 2.64
Transparency: Translucent to transparent
Etymology: Named after August Alexander Kämmerer, chief chemist and mining director at St. Petersburg, Russia (1789-1858).
Occurrence: In chromite deposits, associated with clinochlore and uvarovite.
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