7.8" Polished Pollucite (Caesium Ore) Section - Western Australia

Polished Pollucite (Caesium Ore) Section - Western Australia #239925

What we have here is a 7.8" wide section of rare caesium ore (pollucite). It comes from a lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite known as the Sinclair Caesium Deposit, located near Norseman in Western Australia. This deposit contains a variety of additional minerals such as quartz, albite (cleavelandite), lepidolite, petalite, zinnwaldite, eucryptite, beryl, and amblygonite. One side of the specimen has been cut flat and flawlessly polished to a glossy-finish.

It comes with an acrylic display stand.

Pollucite is a zeolite mineral that typically occurs in lithium-rich granite pegmatites. As an ore, it is an important source of caesium and sometimes rubidium. It is commonly found with colorless, white, or grey coloration, though rarely it will bear pink or blue hues. Though it typically forms massive habits, it can form trapezohedral or cubic crystals on rare occasions.

While this material is collected from the Sinclair Caesium Deposit in Western Australia, 82 percent of the world's known reserves of pollucite occur near Bernic Lake in Manitoba, Canada. Here the pollucite is primarily mined for its caesium content for use in caesium formate oil drilling assistance.

Chemical Formula: (Cs,Na)2(Al2Si4O12) · 2H2O
Substituting Elements: Fe, Ca, Rb & K

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