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

Colour in reflected light:

grayish white

Chemistry of TusioniteHide

Mindat Formula:

Mn²⁺Sn⁴⁺[BO₃]₂

Sc-bearing varieties are known (Mirakov et al., 2018, 2019).

Element Weights:

Element	% weight
Sn	40.757 %
O	32.958 %
Mn	18.862 %
B	7.423 %

Calculated from ideal end-member formula.

Elements listed:

B, Mn, O, Sn - search for minerals with similar chemistry

Crystallography of TusioniteHide

Crystal System:

Trigonal

Class (H-M):

3 - Rhombohedral

Space Group:

Cell Parameters:

a = 4.781(1) Å, c = 15.381(7) Å

Ratio:

a:c = 1 : 3.217

Unit Cell V:

304.48 Å³ (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Morphology:

Thin platy crystals, to 1.5 cm, in rosettelike aggregates.

Crystal StructureHide

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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)
0005417	Tusionite	Cooper M A, Hawthorne F C, Novak M (1994) The crystal structure of tusionite, MnSn(BO3)2, a dolomite-structure borate The Canadian Mineralogist 32 903-907		1994		0	293

CIF Raw Data - click here to close

data_global
_chemical_name_mineral 'Tusionite'
loop_
_publ_author_name
'Cooper M A'
'Hawthorne F C'
'Novak M'
_journal_name_full 'The Canadian Mineralogist'
_journal_volume 32 
_journal_year 1994
_journal_page_first 903
_journal_page_last 907
_publ_section_title
;
 The crystal structure of tusionite, MnSn(BO3)2,
 a dolomite-structure borate
;
_database_code_amcsd 0005417
_chemical_formula_sum 'Mn Sn B2 O6'
_cell_length_a 4.781
_cell_length_b 4.781
_cell_length_c 15.381
_cell_angle_alpha 90
_cell_angle_beta 90
_cell_angle_gamma 120
_cell_volume 304.476
_exptl_crystal_density_diffrn      4.765
_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'R -3'
loop_
_space_group_symop_operation_xyz
  'x,y,z'
  '2/3+x,1/3+y,1/3+z'
  '1/3+x,2/3+y,2/3+z'
  'y,-x+y,-z'
  '2/3+y,1/3-x+y,1/3-z'
  '1/3+y,2/3-x+y,2/3-z'
  '-x+y,-x,z'
  '2/3-x+y,1/3-x,1/3+z'
  '1/3-x+y,2/3-x,2/3+z'
  '-x,-y,-z'
  '2/3-x,1/3-y,1/3-z'
  '1/3-x,2/3-y,2/3-z'
  '-y,x-y,z'
  '2/3-y,1/3+x-y,1/3+z'
  '1/3-y,2/3+x-y,2/3+z'
  'x-y,x,-z'
  '2/3+x-y,1/3+x,1/3-z'
  '1/3+x-y,2/3+x,2/3-z'
loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
Mn   0.00000   0.00000   0.00000
Sn   0.00000   0.00000   0.50000
B   0.00000   0.00000   0.24440
O   0.28000  -0.01550   0.24530
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
Mn 0.00720 0.00720 0.01280 0.00360 0.00000 0.00000
Sn 0.00360 0.00360 0.01140 0.00180 0.00000 0.00000
B 0.00620 0.00620 0.01240 0.00310 0.00000 0.00000
O 0.00640 0.00800 0.01830 0.00460 -0.00100 -0.00170

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

Powder Diffraction Data:

d-spacing	Intensity
5.12 Å	(4)
4.02 Å	(4)
3.65 Å	(9)
2.818 Å	(10)
2.393 Å	(6)
1.999 Å	(6)
1.744 Å	(8)

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):

Paragenetic Mode	Earliest Age (Ga)
Stage 4b: Highly evolved igneous rocks	>3.0
34 : Complex granite pegmatites

Geological Setting:

Boron-rich complex pegmatites of the elbaite subtype.

Type Occurrence of TusioniteHide

Type Locality:

ⓘ Tusion River Valley, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

General Appearance of Type Material:

Lamellar intergrowths up to 1.5 cm with tetrawickmanite and as small tabular crystals.

Place of Conservation of Type Material:

Mineralogical Museum, St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Russia, 17096.
Mining Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1661/1.
A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, 82546.

Geological Setting of Type Material:

Miarolitic granite pegmatite.

Associated Minerals at Type Locality:

Synonyms of TusioniteHide

IMA1982-090

Other Language Names for TusioniteHide

Dutch:Tusioniet

German:Tusionit

Russian:Тусионит

Spanish:Tusionita

Varieties of TusioniteHide

Scandium-bearing Tusionite

Common AssociatesHide

Associations Based on Photo Data:

17 photos of Tusionite associated with Phenakite	Be₂SiO₄
2 photos of Tusionite associated with Albite	Na(AlSi₃O₈)
1 photo of Tusionite associated with Columbite-(Mn)	Mn²⁺Nb₂O₆
1 photo of Tusionite associated with 'Smoky Quartz'	SiO₂
1 photo of Tusionite associated with Quartz	SiO₂
1 photo of Tusionite associated with Jeremejevite	Al₆(BO₃)₅(F,OH)₃

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat Grouping Hide

6.AA.05	Sassolite	H₃BO₃	Tric. 1 : P1
6.AA.15	Nordenskiöldine	CaSn⁴⁺[BO₃]₂	Trig. 3 : R3
6.AA.35	Jimboite	(Mn²⁺,Mg)₃[BO₃]₂	Orth. mmm(2/m2/m2/m)
6.AA.35	Kotoite	Mg₃[BO₃]₂	Orth. mmm(2/m2/m2/m) : Pnnm
6.AA.40	Takedaite	Ca₃[BO₃]₂	Trig. 3m(32/m) : R3c

Fluorescence of TusioniteHide

In UV light:

Not fluorescent

Other InformationHide

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 TusioniteHide

mindat.org URL:

https://www.mindat.org/min-4062.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

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Look for Tusionite in the Rock H. Currier Digital Library

External Links:

Look for Tusionite on Webmineral

Look for Tusionite on Wikipedia

Look for Tusionite 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 TusioniteHide

Reference List:

Konovalenko, S.I., Voloshin, A.V., Pakhomovskii, Y.A., Anen'yev, S.S., Perlina, G.A., Rogachev, D.L., Kuznetsov, V.Y. (1983) Tusionite, MnSn(BO3)2, a new borate from granite pegmatite of southwestern Pamir. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR, 272, 1449-1453.

Konovalenko, S. I., Voloshin, A. V., Pakhomovskiy, Ya. A., Anen'yev, S. S., Perlina, G. A., Rogachev, D. L., Kuznetsov, V. Ya. (1984) Tusionite, MnSn(BO3)2, a new Borate from Granite Pegmatite of Southwestern Pamir. International Geology Review, 26 (4) 481-485 doi:10.1080/00206818409466576

Dunn, Pete J.; Cabri, Louis J.; Ferraiolo, James A.; Grice, Joel Do.; Jambor, John L.; Mueller, Wolfgang; Shigley, James E.; Puziewicz, Jacek; Vanko, David A. (1984) New mineral names. American Mineralogist, 69 (11-12). 1190-1196

Cooper, M., Hawthorne, F. C., Novák, M., Taylor, M. C. (1994) The crystal structure of tusionite, Mn²⁺Sn⁴⁺(BO₃)₂, a dolomite-structure borate. The Canadian Mineralogist, 32 (4) 903-907

Grew, Edward S.; Anovitz, Lawrence M. - Eds. (1996) Boron - Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry. Reviews in Mineralogy Vol. 33. Mineralogical Society of America p.862

(2005) Tusionite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America

M. A., Mirakov; L. A., Pautov; M. A., Shodibekov; P. Yu., Plechov; V. Yu., Karpenko (2018) The new scandium-bearing variety of tusionite from the East Pamirs (Tadjikistan). Zapiski RMO (Proceedings of the Russian Mineralogical Society), 147 (4). 84-96 doi:10.30695/zrmo/2018.1474.06

Mirakov, M. A., Pautov, L. A., Shodibekov, M. A., Plechov, P. Yu., Karpenko, V. Yu. (2019) A New Scandium-Bearing Variety of Tusionite from the Eastern Pamirs (Tajikistan) Geology of Ore Deposits, 61 (8) 809-817 doi:10.1134/s1075701519080087

Localities for TusioniteHide

Showing 7 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.

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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.


Czech Republic
Vysočina Region Žďár nad Sázavou District ⓘ Řečice	Novák +4 other references
ⓘ Řečice pegmatite	Flégr et al. (2017)

Myanmar
Shan State Kyaukme District Momeik Township Molo quarter Khetchel village (Cache village; Khat Che village) ⓘ Phenakite Mine	Mineralogical Magazine +2 other references

Tajikistan
Gorno-Badakhshan Murghob ⓘ Dorozhniy pegmatite	[var: Scandium-bearing Tusionite] Mirakov M.A. et al. (2018)
ⓘ Tusion River Valley (TL)	Konovalenko et al. (1984) +1 other reference

Vietnam
Yên Bái Province Lục Yên District ⓘ Minh Tien Mine	Kubernátová et al. (2019)

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Tusionite

About TusioniteHide

Unique IdentifiersHide

Similar NamesHide

IMA Classification of TusioniteHide

Classification of TusioniteHide

Mineral SymbolsHide

Physical Properties of TusioniteHide

Optical Data of TusioniteHide