Category Halide mineral Strunz classification 3.AC.20 Space group P43m | Formula
(repeating unit) BiF3 Crystal system Cubic | |
Crystal class Hextetrahedral (43m)
H-M symbol: (4 3m) | ||
Gananite (simplified Chinese: 赣南矿; traditional Chinese: 贛南礦; pinyin: gàn nán kuàng) is a rare bismuth fluoride mineral with a general formula of BiF3. Gananite is an isotropic mineral, it belongs to the space group P43m. This means that Gananite does not show any colors in cross polarized light, because when polarized light passes through it, it does not split into two perpendicular rays. In other words, because Gananite is an isometric mineral, it does not exhibit double refraction. Moreover, this tells us that this mineral is not birefringent. Its color in Plane polarized light is blackish-brown, and it does not show pleochroism.
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Discovery and occurrence
It was first described in 1984 for an occurrence in the Laikeng Mining District, Gan County, Ganzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, China. The name is given for its occurrence in the Southern Ganzhou (Gannan) region of China. In the Gannan occurrence, the only reported location, it occurs in quartz veins in association with wolframite, native bismuth, bismuthinite, pyrite and chalcopyrite.
Uses
Despite the obscurity of Gananite and its very limited use, it is sometimes used in China as a bismuth ore. Bismuth is used mainly in chemicals like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and pigments. Bismuth is also used in creating alloys that have a characteristic low melting point which are used in electronic solders.