Database of luminescent minerals 

CRAWFORDITE

Chemical formula: Na₃Sr(PO₄)(CO₃)

Family: Carbonates

Status: IMA-A

Crystal system : Monoclinic

Display mineral: NON

Luminescence:

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Phosphorescence (in the common sense of the term) observable with the naked eye:

No data

Comments:

This is another rare mineral from the rare mineral district of the Khibiny mountains, Kola Peninsula, Russia. It is found as small grains to about 1mm associated with potassium feldspar, nepheline, sodalite, aegirine (main rock-forming minerals), plus pectolite, astrophyllite, barytolamprophyllite, shcherbakovite, vuonnemite, kazakovite, ershovite, chkalovite, natrite, villiaumite, and rasvumite. The name is for Scottish chemist A. Crawford (1748- 1795), who discovered the Sr salts. Type material is at the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow, Russia
Crawfordite fluoresces bright yellowish green, band not stated.

In his book, Jack de Ment spoke about crawfordite as a form of chalcedony from Barstow, California, fluorescing in green under SW;

Activator(s) and spectrum:

No spectrum yet

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Koashva Open Pit, Koashva Mt, Khibiny Massif, Kola Peninsula, Murmanskaja Oblast, Northern Region, Russia (Bright greenish-yellow);
• Barstow, CA, USA (variety of chalcedony fluo green SW also called Siam agate or chapinite, a mixture of agate and jasper not the mineral crawfordite);

(*)The data are not exhaustive and are limited to a few remarkable localities for fluorescence

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• Handbook of Fluorescent Gems and Minerals, a practical guide for the gem and mineral collector, Jack de Ment, 1949 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

  http://www.mindat.org/show.php?name=Crawfordite

  http://webmineral.com/data/Crawfordite.shtml

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