mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
s which contain a
borate
A borate is any of several boron oxyanions, negative ions consisting of boron and oxygen, such as orthoborate , metaborate , or tetraborate ; or any salt with such anions, such as sodium metaborate, and disodium tetraborate . The name also re ...
anion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...
group. The borate (BO3) units may be
polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
ised similar to the SiO4 unit of the
silicate mineral
Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust.
In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually consid ...
class. This results in B2O5, B3O6, B2O4 anions as well as more complex structures which include
hydroxide
Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a single covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. I ...
or halogen anions.Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius Hurlbut, Jr., ''Manual of Mineralogy'', Wiley, 20th ed., 1985 pp. 343 - 347 The 4">(O,OH)4sup>− anion exists as well.
Many borate minerals, such as
borax
Borax is a salt ( ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular for ...
ulexite
Ulexite (NaCaB5O6(OH)6·5H2O, hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide), sometimes known as TV rock or Television stone, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduc ...
, are
salts
In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively c ...
: soft, readily soluble, and found in
evaporite
An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as ocean ...
contexts. However, some, such as
boracite
Boracite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula: Mg3 B7 O13 Cl. It occurs as blue green, colorless, gray, yellow to white crystals in the orthorhombic - pyramidal crystal system. Boracite also shows pseudo-isometric cubical and octahedral fo ...
, are hard and resistant to weathering, more similar to the
silicates
In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name i ...
.
There are over 100 different borate minerals.Webmineral.Com Strunz group V/G - V/L Borate minerals include:
* Kernite Na2B4O6(OH)2·3H2O
*
Borax
Borax is a salt ( ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular for ...
Na2B4O5(OH)4·8H2O
*
Ulexite
Ulexite (NaCaB5O6(OH)6·5H2O, hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide), sometimes known as TV rock or Television stone, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduc ...
Boracite
Boracite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula: Mg3 B7 O13 Cl. It occurs as blue green, colorless, gray, yellow to white crystals in the orthorhombic - pyramidal crystal system. Boracite also shows pseudo-isometric cubical and octahedral fo ...
Mg3B7O13Cl
*
Painite
Painite is a very rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain who misidentified it as ruby, until it was discovered as a new gemstone in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new miner ...
CaZrAl9O15(BO3)
Nickel–Strunz Classification -06- Borates
IMA-CNMNC proposes a new hierarchical scheme (Mills et al., 2009). This list uses it to modify the Classification of Nickel–Strunz ( mindat.org, 10 ed, pending publication). Note that although Nickel–Strunz division letters were traditionally based on the number of boron atoms in a mineral's chemical formula (06.A are monoborates, 06.B are diborates, etc.), the IMA has reclassified borate minerals based on the polymerisation of the borate anion.
;Abbreviations:
* ''REE'':
rare-earth element
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides ( yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silv ...
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, "island")
* ''soro-'': grouped (from Greek , "heap, pile, mound")
* ''cyclo-'': rings of (from Greek , "circle")
* ''ino-'': chained (from Greek , "fibre", rom Ancient Greek
* ''phyllo-'': sheets of (from Greek , "leaf")
* ''tekto-'': three-dimensional framework (from Greek , "of building")
;Nickel–Strunz code scheme ''NN.XY.##x'':
* ''NN'': Nickel–Strunz mineral class number
* ''X'': Nickel–Strunz mineral division letter
* ''Y'': Nickel–Strunz mineral family letter
* ''##x'': Nickel–Strunz mineral/group number; ''x'' an add-on letter
Sassolite
Sassolite is a borate mineral, specifically the mineral form of boric acid. It is usually white to gray, and colourless in transmitted light. It can also take on a yellow colour from sulfur impurities, or brown from iron oxides.
History and occ ...
Ludwigite
Ludwigite is a magnesium-iron borate mineral: Mg2FeBO5.
Ludwigite typically occurs in magnesian iron skarn and other high temperature contact metamorphic deposits. It occurs in association with magnetite, forsterite, clinohumite and the borates ...
Painite
Painite is a very rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain who misidentified it as ruby, until it was discovered as a new gemstone in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new miner ...
** 06.AC B(O,OH)4, without and with additional anions; 1(T), 1(T)+OH, etc.: 05 Sinhalite; 10 Pseudosinhalite; 15
Béhierite
Béhierite is a very rare mineral, a natural tantalum borate of the formula (Ta,Nb)BO4. Béhierite is also one of the most simple tantalum minerals. It contains simple tetrahedral borate anions, instead of more common among minerals, planar BO3 gro ...
, 15
Schiavinatoite
Schiavinatoite is a very rare mineral, a natural niobium borate with the chemical formula .Demartin, F., Diella, V., Gramaccioli, C.M., and Pezzotta, F., 2001. Schiavinatoite, , the Nb analogue of behierite. European Journal of Mineralogy 13, 159- ...
Cahnite
Cahnite (Cahnit in German, Cahnita in Spanish, Канит in Russian) is a brittle white or colorless mineral that has perfect cleavage and is usually transparent. It usually forms tetragonal-shaped crystals and it has a hardness of 3 mohs. Cahni ...
Suanite
Suanite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula Mg2B2O5.
It was first described in 1953 by Japanese scientist Takeo Watanabe from the University of Tokyo.
His first contact with the mineral was during analysis of gold- and copper- bearing skar ...
Pinnoite
Pinnoite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula: MgB2O(OH)6 or MgB2O4·3(H2O). It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system and occurs as colorless to yellow or light green radial fibrous clusters and rarely as short prismatic crystals.
P ...
Meyerhofferite
Meyerhofferite is a hydrated borate mineral of calcium, with the chemical formula Ca2B6O6(OH)10·2H2O, CaB3O3(OH)5·H2O or Ca2(H3B3O7)2·4H2O. It occurs principally as an alteration product of inyoite, another borate mineral.
Natural meyerhoffer ...
; 35
Inyoite
Inyoite, named after Inyo County, California, where it was discovered in 1914, is a colourless monoclinic mineral. It turns white on dehydration. Its chemical formula is Ca(HBO)(OH)·4HO or CaB3O3(OH)5·4H2O. Associated minerals include priceite, ...
Borax
Borax is a salt ( ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular for ...
Fontarnauite
Fontarnauite is a relatively recently described, rare sulfate, borate mineral with the chemical formula . It is found in an evaporite boron deposit. It coexists with other evaporite boron minerals, especially probertite. It is monoclinic, crystal ...
Ulexite
Ulexite (NaCaB5O6(OH)6·5H2O, hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide), sometimes known as TV rock or Television stone, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduc ...
Admontite
Admontite is a hydrated magnesium borate mineral with formula MgB6O10·7H2O.
Occurrence - In a gypsum deposit.
Associations: gypsum, anhydrite, hexahydrite, löweite, eugsterite, pyrite, quartz.
It is named after Admont, Austria. Its Mohs ...
Hydroboracite
Hydroboracite is a hydrated borate mineral (hence the name) of calcium and magnesium, whose chemical composition is CaMgB6O8(OH)6·3H2O. It was discovered in 1834 in the Inder (lake), Inder lake, Atyrau Province, Kazakhstan. Hydroboracite is a ...
Nobleite
Nobleite is a rare borate mineral with the chemical formula CaB6O9(OH)2·3H2O. It was discovered in 1961, in Death Valley, California, and is named for Levi F. Noble, a USGS geologist, in honor of his contributions to the geology of the Death Val ...
Fabianite
Fabianite is a borate mineral with the chemical formula CaB3O5(OH). It is colorless and leaves a white streak. Its crystals are monoclinic prismatic. It is transparent and fluorescent. It has vitreous luster. It is not radioactive. Fabianite is rat ...
Hilgardite
Hilgardite is a borate mineral with the chemical formula Ca2B5O9Cl·H2O. It is transparent and has vitreous luster. It is colorless to light pink with a white streak. It is rated 5 on the Mohs Scale.
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal s ...
Boracite
Boracite is a magnesium borate mineral with formula: Mg3 B7 O13 Cl. It occurs as blue green, colorless, gray, yellow to white crystals in the orthorhombic - pyramidal crystal system. Boracite also shows pseudo-isometric cubical and octahedral fo ...
Rhodizite
The borate minerals are minerals which contain a borate anion group. The borate (BO3) units may be polymerised similar to the SiO4 unit of the silicate mineral class. This results in B2O5, B3O6, B2O4 anions as well as more complex structures whic ...
Classification of minerals - Silicates
This list gives an overview of the classification of minerals (silicates) and includes mostly International Mineralogical Association (IMA) recognized minerals and its groupings. This list complements the List of minerals recognized by the Internat ...