Fluorapatite

TSNB132
Mineral
Country rocks (feldspathic sandstone)Second oxidation zone (?)Rock-forming (detrital) (?)Supergene

Mineral Species

Fluorapatite

Type Locality

No

Composition

Ca5(PO4)3F

Crystal System

Hexagonal

Status at Tsumeb

Believed valid

Abundance

Somewhat rare

Distribution

Second (?) oxidation zone; country rocks (feldspathic sandstone)

Paragenesis

Rock-forming (detrital); supergene (?)

Entry Number

Species; TSNB132

General Notes

Lombaard et al. (1986) list apatite as one of several detrital accessory minerals in the feldspathic sandstone, derived from the overlying Tschudi Formation. On the assumption that this is fluorapatite, the latter is a widely but sparsely distributed mineral at Tsumeb.


The occurrence of hydroxylapatite at Tsumeb as part of the hermannroseite paragenesis is also noted (Schlüter et al. 2011)

Associated Minerals

albite; almandine; biotite series; calcite; clinochlore; epidote; germanocolusite; graphite; ilmenite; libethenite; magnetite; microcline; montmorillonite; muscovite; orthoclase; quartz; rutile; titanite; tourmaline supergroup; zircon