Primary mineral names

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the primary mineral content of bone representing 43 % by weight. HA is a calcium phosphate whose stoichiometric formula corresponds to a Caio(P04)6(OH)2, with a Ca/P molar ratio = 1.67. HA belong the mineral family of Apatites whose name derived from Greek aTraxa means deception or deceit, due to the facility it was confused with other mineral species like the beiyl or the tourmaline [50]. 

The main mineral source for some other metals can be complex. For example, the primary mineral sources for vanadium are vanadinite [Pb5(V04)3Cl] and camotite [K2(U02)2(V04)2 3 H2O], which is also a main mineral source for uranium. Vanadium, as we have seen, is also found in crude oil. No specific minerals contain the metal radium. Yet radium sometime substitutes for uranium within uranium-containing minerals. The small amount of radium that replaces uranium in camotite is also the major source of radium. Tantalum and niobium, named after the Greek god Tantalus and his daughter Niobe, always occur together in mixed deposits of columbite [Fe(Nb03)2l and tantalite [Fe(Ta03)2]. The minerals are mined together and the elements are later separated by recrystallization (see Section 12.4). 

Kaolin, China clay, terra alba, argille, porcelain clay, and white bole are the generic names used to refer to primary clays that include three distinct white minerals - kaolinite, nacrite, and dickite - all of which share a very similar composition but differ slightly in their structure. Kaolin is rarely found pure, but as a natural mixture with other varieties of clay together, the various clays make up over 95% of the total weight of the mixture, other earthy... 

Iron (III) oxide exists in mineral form as hematite. It is 70% iron and is the primary source of iron ore in the world. About 90% of the iron mined in the United States is hematite. World production of this ore is more than 1 billion tons. Magnetite and taconite are two other primary iron oxide minerals used as iron ore. The name hematite comes from the blood-red color of powdered hematite. The Greek word hematite means blood-like. Some ancients held the belief that hematite was formed in areas where batdes were fought and blood was spilled into the earth. Large deposits of hematite have been identified on Mars. 

PROUSTITE. This ruby-silver mineral crystallizes in the hexagonal system its name is a product of its scarlet-to-vermilion color when first mined It is a silver arsenic sulfide. AgjAsS, of adamantine luster Hardness of 2-2,5 specific gravity of 5.55-5.64. Usual crystal habit is prismatic to rhombohedral more commonly occurs massive. Conchoidal to uneven fracture transparent to translucent color, scarlet to vermilion red. Light sensitive must be kept in dark environment to maintain its primary character. A product of low-tcmpcraturc formation in most silver deposits. Notable world occurrences include the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Saxony, Chile and Mexico. Found in minor quantities in the United States the most exceptional occurrence at the Poorman Mine, Silver City District. Idaho where a crystalline mass of some 500 pounds (227 kilograms) was recovered m 1865, It was named for the famous French chemist, Louis Joseph Proust. 

Slephanite occurs associated with other silver minerals and is believed lo be primary in character. Localities are in ihe Czech Republic and Slovakia, Saxony, the Harz Mountains, Sardinia Cornwall, England Chile and Mexico, In the United States it is found in Nevada, where it is an important silver ore. It was named for the Archduke Stephan of Austria, mining director of that country at the time this mineral was first described. 

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