Rodonit (orlez) - a beautiful pink stone of the Urals, a stone of Russia

Semiprecious stones, Gems Rhodonite
On the picture. Uralic rhodonite and products from it. The height of the vase is 40 cm.
Chemical formula: (Mn, Ca) SiO3.
Composition (in%): MnO 30-46, FeO 2-12, CaO 4-6.5, SiO 2 45-48.
In the form of impurities, Al2O3, alkalis can be present.
Singonia: triclinic.
The habit of crystals is usually tabular, isometric, rarely prismatic; Minerals are very rare.
There is a rhodonite in the form of solid dense masses or granular aggregates.
Color: pink, pinkish-gray, crimson to red: for units with a small amount of impurities - bright and uniform, with their increase appears spotty, pale color.
Hardness: 5-5,5.
Density: 3.40-3.75 g / cm3.
Cleavage: perfect for (110) and (110), less perfect by (001).
Glitter: glass, on cleavage planes with pearly tint.
Transparency: opaque, in thin plates and chips, bright rhodonite shines through.
The refraction is: ng = 1.723-1.752, nm = 1.716-1.741, np = 1.711-1.738.
The name of the mineral is derived from the Greek rhodon - rose or pink.

In the old days it was called the "eagle", often this word was also used for the rhodonite-bearing breed. Currently, in the jewelry and stone-cutting industry, rhodonite is a jewelry-ornamental mono- or polymineral aggregate, the main component of which is the mineral of the same name. In association with rhodonite, there are: bustamite, quartz, spessartine, rhodochrosite, secondary oxides of manganese, etc.

Rodonite is a typical formation of regionally metamorphosed manganese-bearing volcanogenic-sedimentary formations. It was opened in the Urals in 1798, by the XIX century. Refers to the period of its widespread use in the national stone carving art.

Bright beautiful coloring, the ability to perfectly polish determined rhodonite as highly decorative ornamental, partly facing and jewelry material. As inserts in rings, brooches, etc., select areas of crimson bright semi-translucent rhodonite, comparatively rare in the deposits, and for the production of stone-cutting products (vases, boxes, etc.) - unevenly painted with dendrites of manganese oxides (landscape).

The best examples of vases, caskets, etc. pre-revolutionary period are in the Hermitage and the Mineralogical Museum. AE Fersman. As AE Fersman wrote, the largest item from rhodonite is "a marvelous sarcophagus weighing only 7 tons, carved from a 47-ton monolith from the Malo-Sidelnikovskoye field in the Urals."

Currently, rhodonite is used for making souvenirs, as well as cabochons and flat inserts in jewelry. It is also a beautiful, rare collection material. Rodonite as a facing material mainly landscape grade was applied in the interior decoration of the station "Mayakovskaya" of the Moscow Metro and the hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. The experience of using rhodonite in decorative and facing purposes has not found wide distribution due to its limited reserves.

The largest and most well-known deposit, Malo-Sidelnikovskoye in the Urals, was first exploited open and then underground. Perspective manifestations have been identified both in the Urals (Kurganovskoye) and in other parts of the CIS: Central Asia (Sultan-Uizdag), in Ukraine, in the Buryat Autonomous Republic. The rhodonite of these deposits is inferior in quality to the rhodonite of the Malo-Sidelnikovsky deposit. Sultan-Uizdag and Kurganovskoe deposits are being prepared for industrial development.

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