Sahlinite	A valid IMA mineral species - grandfathered	Pb₁₄(AsO₄)₂O₉Cl₄
Selenite	A variety of Gypsum	CaSO₄ · 2H₂O
Selenite (of Rau)	A synonym of Berzelianite
Sillénite	A valid IMA mineral species - grandfathered	Bi₁₂SiO₂₀

IMA Classification of SilinaiteHide

IMA status:

Approved

IMA Formula:

NaLiSi₂O₅·2H₂O

Approval year:

1990

First published:

1991

Classification of SilinaiteHide

Strunz-mindat (2026):

9.EF.20

9 : SILICATES (Germanates)
E : Phyllosilicates
F : Single nets with 6-membered rings, connected by M[4], M[8], etc.

Dana 8th ed.:

74.3.5.3

74 : PHYLLOSILICATES Modulated Layers
3 : Modulated Layers with joined strips

Hey's CIM Ref.:

14.1.8

14 : Silicates not Containing Aluminum
1 : Silicates of the alkali metals

Mineral SymbolsHide

As of 2021 there are now IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols (abbreviations) for each mineral species, useful for tables and diagrams.

Symbol	Source	Reference for Standard
Sln	IMA–CNMNC	Warr, L.N. (2021). IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine, 85(3), 291-320. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43

Physical Properties of SilinaiteHide

Lustre:

Vitreous, Earthy

Transparency:

Transparent, Translucent, Opaque

Colour:

Colourless, white

Streak:

White

Hardness:

4½ on Mohs scale

Tenacity:

Brittle

Cleavage:

Perfect
{001} perfect, {010} good, and {110} distinct

Fracture:

Conchoidal

Density:

2.24(1) g/cm³ (Measured) 2.225(5) g/cm³ (Calculated)

Optical Data of SilinaiteHide

Type:

Biaxial (+)

RI values:

n_α = 1.515(1) n_β = 1.516(1) n_γ = 1.518(1)

2V:

Measured: 64° to 71°, Calculated: 72°

Max. Birefringence:

δ = 0.003
Based on recorded range of RI values above.

Interference Colours:
The colours simulate birefringence patterns seen in thin section under crossed polars. They do not take into account mineral colouration or opacity.

Michel-Levy Bar The default colours simulate the birefringence range for a 30 µm thin-section thickness. Adjust the slider to simulate a different thickness.

Grain Simulation You can rotate the grain simulation to show how this range might look as you rotated a sample under crossed polars.

Thickness: 30 µm

Rotation:

Surface Relief:

Moderate

Dispersion:

strong, r > v

Optical Extinction:

X = b; Y ∧ c = 16° in the acute β angle

Pleochroism:

Non-pleochroic

Chemistry of SilinaiteHide

Mindat Formula:

NaLiSi₂O₅ · 2H₂O

Element Weights:

Element	% weight
O	55.408 %
Si	27.790 %
Na	11.374 %
Li	3.434 %
H	1.995 %

Calculated from ideal end-member formula.

Elements listed:

H, Li, Na, O, Si - search for minerals with similar chemistry

Common Impurities:

Al,Ca

Crystallography of SilinaiteHide

Crystal System:

Monoclinic

Class (H-M):

2/m - Prismatic

Cell Parameters:

a = 5.061 Å, b = 8.334 Å, c = 14.383 Å
β = 96.67°

Ratio:

a:b:c = 0.607 : 1 : 1.726

Unit Cell V:

602.55 Å³

Comment:

cell param. A2/n

Crystal StructureHide

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Unit Cell | Unit Cell Packed
2x2x2 | 3x3x3 | 4x4x4

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CIF File Best | x | y | z | a | b | c

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Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure

ID	Species	Reference	Link	Year	Locality	Pressure (GPa)	Temp (K)
0005263	Silinaite	Grice J D (1991) The crystal structure of silinaite, NaLiSi2O6.2H20: a monophyllosilicate The Canadian Mineralogist 29 363-367		1991	Mont Saint-Hilaire, Rouville County, Quebec, Canada	0	293

CIF Raw Data - click here to close

data_global
_chemical_name_mineral 'Silinaite'
loop_
_publ_author_name
'Grice J D'
_journal_name_full 'The Canadian Mineralogist'
_journal_volume 29 
_journal_year 1991
_journal_page_first 363
_journal_page_last 367
_publ_section_title
;
 The crystal structure of silinaite, NaLiSi2O6.2H20: a monophyllosilicate
;
_database_code_amcsd 0005263
_chemical_compound_source 'Mont Saint-Hilaire, Rouville County, Quebec, Canada'
_chemical_formula_sum 'Na Li Si2 O7 H4'
_cell_length_a 5.061
_cell_length_b 8.334
_cell_length_c 14.383
_cell_angle_alpha 90
_cell_angle_beta 96.6
_cell_angle_gamma 90
_cell_volume 602.631
_exptl_crystal_density_diffrn      2.228
_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'A 1 2/n 1'
loop_
_space_group_symop_operation_xyz
  'x,y,z'
  'x,1/2+y,1/2+z'
  '1/2-x,y,1/2-z'
  '1/2-x,1/2+y,-z'
  '1/2+x,-y,1/2+z'
  '1/2+x,1/2-y,+z'
  '-x,-y,-z'
  '-x,1/2-y,1/2-z'
loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
_atom_site_U_iso_or_equiv
Na   0.25000   0.60350   0.25000 ?
Li   0.25000   0.23950   0.25000 ?
Si   0.05250   0.15260   0.43660 ?
O1   0.00960   0.12110   0.32690 ?
O2   0.36100   0.20530   0.47030 ?
O3   0.00000   0.00000   0.50000 ?
O4   0.09330   0.85830   0.15940 ?
H1   0.04100   0.85500   0.10900   0.05200
H2   0.21900   0.94100   0.16400   0.03600
loop_
_atom_site_aniso_label
_atom_site_aniso_U_11
_atom_site_aniso_U_22
_atom_site_aniso_U_33
_atom_site_aniso_U_12
_atom_site_aniso_U_13
_atom_site_aniso_U_23
Na 0.02010 0.02000 0.02470 0.00000 0.07300 0.00000
Li 0.11910 0.01680 0.01680 0.00000 -0.00400 0.00000
Si 0.07100 0.07400 0.07800 0.00800 0.00500 -0.00500
O1 0.01190 0.01350 0.08800 -0.01100 0.00800 -0.00500
O2 0.07300 0.01220 0.01150 0.02000 0.00000 -0.02000
O3 0.01880 0.01310 0.01650 0.07600 0.02500 -0.03000
O4 0.02210 0.02700 0.01470 -0.02000 0.02400 -0.03600

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

Powder Diffraction Data:

d-spacing	Intensity
7.14 Å	(100)
4.14 Å	(100)
2.847 Å	(100)
4.24 Å	(80)
4.02 Å	(80)
2.698 Å	(50)
1.610 Å	(40)

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):

Paragenetic Mode	Earliest Age (Ga)
Stage 3a: Earth’s earliest Hadean crust	>4.50
9 : Lava/xenolith minerals (hornfels, sanidinite facies)

Type Occurrence of SilinaiteHide

Type Locality:

ⓘ Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada

General Appearance of Type Material:

Clear tabular crystals up to 2 mm, fibrous clusters, poorly formed prismatic crystals, and chalky to earthy or powdery patches.

Place of Conservation of Type Material:

Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 56467, 56468.
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; M44516, M44517.

Geological Setting of Type Material:

In sodalite syenite xenoliths in nepheline syenite.

Associated Minerals at Type Locality:

Chkalovite	Erdite	Kogarkoite	Makatite	Natrophosphate
Rasvumite	Revdite	Sazhinite-(Ce)	Sidorenkite	Thalcusite
Tugtupite	Vitusite-(Ce)

Synonyms of SilinaiteHide

IMA1990-028

Unnamed (MSH UK-81)

Other Language Names for SilinaiteHide

Dutch:Silinaiet

German:Silinait

Russian:Силинаит

Spanish:Silinaita

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat Grouping Hide

9.EF.05	Petalite	LiAl(Si₄O₁₀)	Mon. 2/m : P2/b
9.EF.10	Sanbornite	BaSi₂O₅	Orth. mmm(2/m2/m2/m)
9.EF.15	Searlesite	Na(H₂BSi₂O₇)	Mon. 2 : P2₁
9.EF.25	Kanemite	HNaSi₂O₅ · 3H₂O	Orth. mmm(2/m2/m2/m) : Pnma
9.EF.30	Yakovenchukite-(Y)	K₃NaCaY₂[Si₁₂O₃₀] · 4H₂O	Orth. mmm(2/m2/m2/m) : Pcca

Fluorescence of SilinaiteHide

In UV light:

Not fluorescent

Other InformationHide

Notes:

Dissolves slowly in concentrated HCl and HNO3, and more slowly in H2SO4, leaving a gelatinous residue.

Health Risks:

No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

Internet Links for SilinaiteHide

mindat.org URL:

https://www.mindat.org/min-3661.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

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Look for Silinaite in the Rock H. Currier Digital Library

External Links:

Look for Silinaite on Webmineral

Look for Silinaite on Wikipedia

Look for Silinaite on Mineralien Atlas

Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project

References and PDF downloads at RRUFF project

American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database

Handbook of Mineralogy page PDF

Mineral Dealers:

Buy from D. Joyce minerals

References for SilinaiteHide

Reference List:

Chao, George Y., Grice, Joel D., Gault, Robert A. (1991) Silinaite, a new sodium lithium silicate hydrate mineral from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. The Canadian Mineralogist, 29 (2) 359-362

Grice, J. D. (1991) The crystal structure of silinaite, NaLiSi₂O₅·2H₂O: a monophyllosilicate. The Canadian Mineralogist, 29 (2) 363-367

Beneke, Klaus, Thiesen, Peter, Lagaly, Gerhard (1995) Synthesis and Properties of the Sodium Lithium Silicate Silinaite. Inorganic Chemistry, 34 (4) 900-907 doi:10.1021/ic00108a022

Huang, Yining, Jiang, Zhimei, Schwieger, Wilhelm (1999) A structural investigation of the singly layered silicates, silinaite and makatite, by vibrational spectroscopy. Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 77 (4). 495-501 doi:10.1139/cjc-77-4-495

(2001) Silinaite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America

Zhou, C.H., Guo, H.Q., Cao, H.J., Li, X.N., Ge, Z.H., Li, J. (2006): Synthesis and characterization of novel layered lithium sodium silicate (Silinaite) and the mesoporous materials from silinaite. Chinese Chemical Letters, 17, 525-528.

Localities for SilinaiteHide

Showing 2 localities.

This map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the

symbol to view information about a locality. The

symbol next to localities in the list can be used to jump to that position on the map.

Hide all sections | Show all sections

Locality ListHide

- This locality has map coordinates listed.

- This locality has estimated coordinates. ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence. ? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality.

- Good crystals or important locality for species.

- World class for species or very significant. (TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties). ~~Struck out~~ - Mineral was erroneously reported from this locality. Faded * - Never found at this locality but inferred to have existed at some point in the past (e.g. from pseudomorphs).

All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.


Canada (TL)
Québec Montérégie La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM Mont Saint-Hilaire ⓘ Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH) (TL)	Chao et al. (1991)

China
Shanxi Shuozhou Pinglu District ⓘ Pingshuo Mine	Wang et al. (2015)

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Silinaite

Unique IdentifiersHide

Similar NamesHide