Category Borate mineral Strunz classification 6.BA.05 Crystal system Monoclinic crystal system | Formula
(repeating unit) Mg2B2O5 Space group P21/a | |
Crystal class Prismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol) Unit cell a = 12.31 Å, b = 3.12 Å
c = 9.2 Å; β = 104.33° | ||
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 skarn minerals from the Hol Kol mine, located in North Korea obtained in 1939. Due to the small sample size available to him, he was only able to determine the unknown substance's optical properties under a microscope. Watanabe was able to return to the site in 1943 and obtain further samples that permitted him to perform chemical analysis on the material.
References
Suanite Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA