May 9 2013
Raite was discovered in the year 1973 and named in honor of the international group of scientists, headed by Thor Heyerdahl, who were crewing the papyrus ship, Ra. Its structure is related to tuperssuatsiaite and windhoekite.
Properties of Raite
The key physical properties of Raite are as below:
- Cell Data
- Space group: C222
- a = 30.44-30.6
- b= 5.31-5.371
- c=18.20-18.25
- Z = 4
- Crystal Data
- Orthorhombic
- Point group: 222
- Crystals – acicular, to 2mm, in radiating clusters.
- X-ray powder pattern: Lovozero massif, Russia
11.4 (100), 2.939 (100), 2.650 (100), 4.5 (80), 3.8 (60b), 2.482 (60), 1.640 (60)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content |
| SiO2 |
46.20 |
| TiO2 |
3.11 |
| ZrO2 |
0.16 |
| Al2O3 |
0.12 |
| RE2O3 |
0.16 |
| Fe2O3 |
1.86 |
| (Nb,Ta)2O5 |
0.44 |
| FeO |
0.37 |
| MnO |
15.00 |
| MgO |
0.20 |
| CaO |
1.24 |
| Na2O |
11.24 |
| K2O |
0.17 |
| H2O+ |
8.01 |
| H2O- |
11.36 |
| CO2 |
0.40 |
- Optical Properties
- Semitransparent
- Optical class- Biaxial
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density)= 2.37 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Raite = 2.38 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PERaite = 6.19 barns/electron
U=PERaite x ρelectron density= 14.66 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.01
Boson index = 0.99 |
Radioactivity
|
GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Raite is not radioactive |
How to Identify Raite
Raite appears as semitransparent gold, tan, brown, reddish brown, yellow and rose colored mineral. It shows a vitreous, silky lustre. It is a brittle mineral having density ranging from 2.32 to 2.39 and a hardness of 3.
Global Distribution
Raite is widely distributed in the following locations:
- Canada – from Poudrette Quary in Quebec
- Russia –from Jubilee pegmatite near the valley of Ilmajok river and Khibiny massif, Kola Peninsula
Occurrence of Raite and Useful Mineral Association
Raite occurs in the walls of fractures that are filled with nepheline in alkalic pegmatite in a differentiated alkalic massif. It is usually associated with minerals such as nepheline, aegirine, mountainite, natrolite and zorite.
References