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Dolomite
Dolomite Physical Characteristics:
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Dolomite
Color |
Often pink or pinkish and can be
colorless, white, yellow, gray
or even brown or black when iron
present in the crystal.
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Luster |
Pearly to vitreous to dull |
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Transparency
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Crystals are transparent to
translucent |
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Crystal
System |
Trigonal; bar 3
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Dolomite
Crystal Habits |
Include saddle shaped rhombohedral twins and simple rhombs
some with slightly curved faces, also
prismatic, massive, granular and rock
forming. Never found in scalenohedrons.
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Cleavage |
Perfect in three directions
forming rhombohedrons.
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Fracture |
Conchoidal.
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Hardness |
3.5-4
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Specific Gravity
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2.86 (average)
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Streak |
White |
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Dolomite Characteristics |
Unlike calcite, effervesces weakly
with warm acid or when first
powdered with cold HCl.
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Associated Minerals |
Include calcite, sulfide ore
minerals, fluorite, barite,
quartz and occasionally with
gold |
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Notable Occurrences |
Many
localities throughout the world, but
well known from sites in Midwestern
quarries of the USA; Ontario, Canada;
Switzerland; Pamplona, Spain and in
Mexico |
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Best Field |
Typical
pink color, crystal habit, hardness,
slow reaction to acid, density and
luster |
Dolomite Chemical Analysis:
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Dolomite Chemical
Analysis |
% |
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SiO2
|
------ |
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Al2O3
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0.04 |
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Fe2O3
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0.024 |
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TiO2 |
N.D |
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Ca O |
32.218 |
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Mg O |
20.179 |
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Na2O |
------ |
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K2O |
------ |
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Insoluble |
0.094 |
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Na2CO3
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------ |
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Loss |
47.33 |
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Total |
99.885 |
Dolomite
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| Sister Sites |
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Mineral Links
Stone Links
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