Mineral description : Herderite

Herderite from Viitaniemi, Finland. A small crystal in the center of the picture.

Mineral class	Phosphates
Chemical formula	CaBe(PO4)(F,OH)
Crystal system	Monoclinic, class 2/m, space group P21/c, Z=4
Habitus	Crystals stout prismatic or thick tabular. Commonly pseudo orthorombic.
Cleavage	Poor cleavage
Hardness	5-5.5
Density	2.9-3.0
Color	Colorless to pale yellow, light green, purple.
Streak
Luster	Vitreous.
Description
Occurance	In pegmatites.
Associates	Microcline
Notes	Soluble in most acids.
Locations	Not found in Sweden. Viitaniemi, Finland. Nice crystals from Minas Geraes, Bavaria, Saxony and Mursinsk - Ural.

To phosphate index.

Mineral group index.

Main index.

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