colemanite

[kohl-muh-nahyt]

noun

1. a mineral, hydrous calcium borate, Ca 2 B 6 O 11 ⋅5H 2 O, occurring in colorless or milky-white crystals.

colemanite

/ ˈkəʊlməˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a colourless or white glassy mineral consisting of hydrated calcium borate in monoclinic crystalline form. It occurs with and is a source of borax. Formula: Ca 2 B 6 O 11 .5H 2 O

Word History and Origins

Origin of colemanite¹

Named in 1884 after W. T. Coleman of San Francisco, in whose mine it was found; -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of colemanite¹

C19: named after William T. Coleman (1824–93), American pioneer, owner of the mine in which it was discovered

Example Sentences

COLEMANITE, a hydrous calcium borate, Ca2B6O11 + 5H2O, found in California as brilliant monoclinic crystals.

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Priceite and pandermite are hydrous calcium borates with very nearly the same composition as colemanite, and they may really be only impure forms of this species.

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Beautifully developed crystals, up to 2 or 3 in. in length, encrust cavities in compact, white colemanite; they are colourless and transparent, and the brilliant lustre of their faces is vitreous to adamantine in character.

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The deposits which at present constitute the principal source of domestic borax are not the playa deposits just described, but are masses of colemanite in Tertiary clays and limestones with interbedded basaltic flows.

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The salts contained in these deposits are mainly borax, ulexite, and colemanite.

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