It was found that a pinkish and weathered stone in the stock of the petalite from Africa was composed of cookeite and quartz. Some mineralogical characteristics of the cookeite after refining were investigated.
The structure formula of this cookeite induced from chemical composition is (Al
1.991 Fe
0.009)(OH)
2 (Al
0.584 Si
3.416) O
100.584- (Li
1.118 K
0.036 Na
0.171 Mg
0.014 Ca
0.063 Mn
0.005 Al
1.698)(OH)
60.583+. The basal spacing is 14.16Å, and does not change by the treatments with 6N-HCI, 1N-NH
4NO
3, potassium acetate, and ethylene glycol. The intensity of the reflection of (001) become maximum by heat treatment at 500°C. Only β-spodumen and mullite appear when heated at 1300°C.
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