Name/Title
Ilvaite on HedenbergiteEntry/Object ID
2023.7.29Description
About Ilvaite
Formula: CaFe3+Fe2+2(Si2O7)O(OH)
Colour: Iron-black, dark grayish black
Lustre: Sub-Metallic
Hardness: 5½ - 6
Specific Gravity: 3.99 - 4.05
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Member of: Lawsonite Group
Name: For "Ilva", the old latin name of Elba Island, on which the co-type localites are situated.
The history of the name of ilvaite is complex.
The mineral was probably first observed in 1784 by the french geologist Déodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801) during his voyage to the Elba Island, Italy. According to Thiébaut de Berneaud (1808), it was found at Cap Calamita ["C'est à la punta della Calamita que Dolomieu trouva cette substance minèrale qu'on a depuis nommée yénite"]. As the mineral collected by Dolomieu didn't show crystal forms, he was induced to classify it as black schorl. The french mineralogist Romé de l’Isle (1736-1790) also had a crystal of the mineral in collection, labelled as Mine de fer noirâtre attirable à l`aimant [an iron mineral that is attracted by magnet] and originating from Rio Marina (Leliévre 1807, Thiébaut de Berneaud 1808, Schubnel 1999). In 1796, the French Mineralogist Louis-Benjamin Fleuriau de Bellevu (1761-1852) also collected the mineral at Cap Calamite (Leliévre 1807 (footnote p. 72-73), Schubnel 1999). It was analyzed by the french chemist Vaquelin.
But it was first published, described and named in 1807 by the French mineralogist Claude-Hugues Leliévre (28 june 1752, Paris, France -18 october 1835). He named it as yenite, in memory of the battle at Jena (in todays Germany) 14 October 1806. The battle was between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia.
The name should have been written Jenite, but according to Leliévre he changed it to Yenite, to avoid confusions with the prononciation.
The name was however criticized in the science community. Information on the new mineral was published by french geologist Jean-François D'Aubuisson in the German Journal für die Chemie und Physik in 1807. The author gave here another origin for the name: "Le Lièvre gave it the name jenite in memory of the Mineralogical Society of Jena, of which he is member" (It seems to be an attempt to soften a name unpleasent to all German).
Later the German/Danish-Norwegian philosopher and mineralogist Henrik Steffens (2 May 1773 Stavanger, Denmark-Norway - 13 February 1845 Berlin, Germany) in his Vollständiges Handbuch der Oryktgnosie (1811) introduced the name Ilvaite.
Later, in 1812 another German, Abraham Gottlob Werner (in Hoffmann 1812, Handbuch der Mineralogie II, p. 376) proposed the name Lievrite in honor of Leliévre who first described the mineral.
The name Ilvaite is the name used today.
Leliévre (1807), in his description, states that he found the mineral in two different localities on the Elba Island: At Rio Marina and at Cap Calamite.
Co-Type Localities: Cape Calamita Mine, Capoliveri, Livorno Province, Tuscany, Italy
ⓘ Torre di Rio - Santa Filomena area (Monte della Torre), Rio Marina, Rio, Livorno Province, Tuscany, Italy
A sorosilicate. The ferrous iron analogue of manganilvaite.
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About Hedenbergite
Formula: CaFe2+Si2O6
Colour: Brownish green, black
Lustre: Vitreous, Dull
Hardness: 5½ - 6½
Specific Gravity: 3.56
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Member of: Clinopyroxene Subgroup > Pyroxene Group
Name: Named in 1819 by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in honor of Mr. Anders Ludvig (Ludwig) Hedenberg [1781 Sweden - 1809 Sweden], formerly a clerk associated with Mountain College, and later chemistry student and co-worker with Berzelius and who first found it at Mormorgruvan, Tunaberg, Sweden and published a description of the mineral. Later Berzelius (in 1819) named the mineral and described it. Hedenberg and Berzelius attempted to make compounds involving nitrogen and sulfur. {N.B. The first initial commonly attributed to Anders Ludvig Hedenberg's name signifies the title "Mister" and not to a given name.}
Type Locality: Mormorsgruvan, Tunaberg Cu-Co Ore Field, Tunaberg, Nyköping, Södermanland County, Sweden
Pyroxene Group - Clinopyroxene Subgroup. See also the Hedenbergite-Johannsenite Series, Diopside-Hedenbergite Series, and the Hedenbergite-Petedunnite solid solution.
Compare UM2004-50-SiO:AlFeGd.Location
Location
Display Case
FS-11Room
Frieda Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
PermanentMoved By
Curtis GardnerDate
December 27, 2023