hectorite

Hectorite is a rare soft, greasy, white, lithium-rich clay mineral with a chemical formula of .

Key facts

Mineral.name: Hectorite
Mineral.category: Phyllosilicate minerals
Mineral.group: Smectite group
Mineral.image: Hectorite Hydrous magnesium iron silicate Hector, California.jpg
Mineral.imagesize: 200
Mineral.caption: Hectorite from California
Mineral.formula: Na0.3(Mg,Li)3Si4O10(OH)2(empirical: Na3(Mg,Li)30Si40O100(OH)20)
Mineral.IMAsymbol: Htr
Mineral.strunz: 9.EC.45
Mineral.system: Monoclinic
Mineral.class: Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Mineral.symmetry: C2/m
Mineral.unit cell: a = 5.25 Å, b = 9.18 Å c = 16 Å; β = 99°; Z = 2
Mineral.color: White, cream, pale brown, mottled
Mineral.habit: Thin laths and aggregates
Mineral.cleavage: [001] Perfect
Mineral.fracture: Uneven
Mineral.mohs: 1–2

via Wikipedia infobox

Chemical data

Formula: H2LiMgNaO12Si4-2
Molecular weight: 360.6 g/mol
IUPAC name: lithium;magnesium;sodium;1,3,5,7-tetraoxido-2,4,6,8,9,10-hexaoxa-1,3,5,7-tetrasilatricyclo[5.1.1.13,5]decane;dihydroxide

via PubChem

Wikidata facts

Mass: 359.853
Image: Hectorite Hydrous magnesium iron silicate Hector, California.jpg

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Nickel-Strunz '10th ed', review of (9th ed/ 2009 update): 9.EC.45
Nickel-Strunz 9th edition (updated 2009): 9.EC.45
Commons category: Hectorite
canonical SMILES: [Li+].[OH-].[OH-].[O-][Si]12O[Si](O1)(O[Si]3(O[Si](O3)(O2)[O-])[O-])[O-].[Na+].[Mg+2]
IMA Mineral Symbol: Htr
chemical formula: H₂LiMgNaO₁₂Si₄²⁻
Strunz 8th edition (series ID, updated): VIII/E.08b

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Hectorite is a rare soft, greasy, white, lithium-rich clay mineral with a chemical formula of .

Hectorite was first described in 1941 and named for an occurrence in the United States near Hector, California (in San Bernardino County, California, 30 miles east of Barstow). Hectorite belongs to the smectite group; it is a swelling 2:1 clay mineral. Hectorite occurs with bentonite as an alteration product of clinoptilolite from volcanic ash and tuff with a high glass content. Hectorite is also found in the beige/brown clay ghassoul, mined in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. A large deposit of hectorite is also found at the Thacker Pass lithium deposit, located within the McDermitt Caldera in Nevada. The Thacker Pass lithium deposit could be a significant source of lithium.