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Kernite

A species of Minerals

Kernite, also known as rasorite, is a hydrated sodium borate hydroxide mineral with formula Na2B4O6(OH)2·3H2O. It is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system typically occurring as prismatic to acicular crystals or granular masses. It is relatively soft with Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and light with a specific gravity of 1.91. It exhibits perfect cleavage and a brittle fracture. Kernite is soluble in cold water and alters to tincalconite when it dehydrates. It undergoes a non-reversible alteration to metakernite (Na2B4O7·5H2O) when heated to above 100 °C.

Hardness:

2.5

Density:

1.905 g/cm³

General Info About Kernite

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Physical Properties of Kernite

Colors

Colourless to white.

Streak

White

Hardness

2.5 , Extremely soft

Density

1.905 g/cm³, Obviously Light Weight

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Chemical Properties of Kernite

Formula

Na₂[B₄O₆(OH)₂] · 3H₂O

Elements listed

B, H, Na, O

Characteristics of Kernite

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Cultural Significance of Kernite

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Uses of Kernite

Kernite is used to produce borax which can be used in a variety of soaps.

The History of Kernite

The mineral occurs in sedimentary evaporite deposits in arid regions. Kernite was discovered in 1926 in eastern Kern County, in Southern California, and later renamed after the county. The location was the US Borax Mine at Boron in the western Mojave Desert. This type material is stored at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. The Kern County mine was the only known source of the mineral for a period of time. More recently, kernite is mined in Argentina and Turkey. The largest documented, single crystal of kernite measured 2.44 x 0.9 x 0.9 m and weighed ~3.8 tons.

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Piemontite

Piemontite is a sorosilicate mineral in the monoclinic crystal system with the chemical formula Ca2(Al,Mn,Fe)3(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH). It is a member of the epidote group. Red to reddish-brown or red-black in colour, Piemontite has a red streak and a vitreous lustre. The type locality is the Prabornaz Mine, in Saint-Marcel, Aosta Valley, Italy. It occurs metamorphic rocks of the greenschist to amphibolite metamorphic facies and in low-temperature hydrothermal veins in altered volcanic rocks. It also occurs in metasomatized deposits of manganese ore. Associated minerals include: epidote, tremolite, glaucophane, orthoclase, quartz and calcite.