The Mineral CLINOCHLORE

Clinochlore forms a series with the mineral chamosite. Chamosite is the iron rich equivalent of clinochlore. Their properties are only slightly different with chamosite being darker and less transparent than clinochlore. A chromium rich variety of clinochlore is known as kaemmererite and is quite beautiful and wonderfully colored bright lavender to crimson.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

• Color is usually green to an emerald green but also red, brown, tan, yellow or white.
• Luster is vitreous to pearly.
• Transparency: Crystals are translucent to transparent.
• Crystal System is monoclinic; 2/m.
• Crystal Habits include pseudohexagonal tabular crystals with tapering pyramidal terminations. Commonly foliated, fibrous, granular, earthy, massive. Twinning is seen on some larger specimens.
• Cleavage is perfect in one direction, basal.
• Fracture is uneven.
• Hardness is 2 - 2.5
• Specific Gravity is 2.6 - 3.0 (average).
• Streak is greenish white or white.
• Other Characteristics: Cleavage flakes are flexible but inelastic.
• Associated Minerals include pyrite, quartz, dolomite, fluorapatite, gmelinite, rutile, siderite, albite, anatase, calcite, catapleiite, talc, chlorite, sphalerite, serpentine, actinolite, biotite, tainiolite, olivine, plagioclase, chromite and uvarovite.
• Notable Occurrences including the type locality of West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA as well as The Tilly Foster mine, New York; Pima and Yavapai Counties, Arizona; New Idria district, San Benito County, California and Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey, USA; Tirol, Austria; Val Malenco, Lombardy and Ala, Piedmont, Italy; near Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland; Spain; Shetland Islands, Scotland; Kop Daglari, Erzurum, Turkey; Ural Mountains, Russia and most localities from where chlorite is found.
• Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, softness, color and cleavage.