Editorial Feature

Priceite - Occurrence, Properties, and Distribution

May 14 2014

Priceite was first discovered in 1873 in Chetco, Curry County in Oregon, USA. It was named after the American metallurgist, Thomas Price, who first analyzed the mineral.

Properties of Priceite

The following are the key properties of Priceite:

Cell Data
- Space Group: P21/c
- a = 11.623(1)
- b = 6.976(1)
- c = 12.350(1)
- α = 110.70(1)°
- Z = 4

Crystal Data
- Monoclinic
- Point Group: 2/m
- Crystals are platy with a rhombic outline, to 20µm, aggregated in books; typically cryptocrystalline, nodular to massive
- X-ray Powder Pattern: 10.92 (10), 3.63 (10), 5.46 (8), 3.49 (7), 2.72 (6), 2.18 (5), 4.29 (4)

Chemical Composition

Elements	Content 1	Content 2
B₂O₃	49.90	49.84
CaO	32.06	32.11
H₂O	18.04	18.05
Total	[100.00]	100.00

Optical Properties
- Optical Class: Biaxial (–)
- Dispersion: r > v, rather strong
- α = 1.571–1.575
- β = 1.590–1.596
- γ = 1.591–1.597
- 2V(meas.) = 32(2)°
- 2V(calc.) = 42°56'

How to Identify Priceite

Priceite is an earthy, white non-magnetic mineral, having perfect cleavage and white streak. Its fractures are dull and do not have visible crystalline affinities. It occurs in cryptocrystalline form, or as rounded massive fine-grained materials.

The density of priceite is 2.42 g/cm³, and its relative hardness ranges from 3 to 3.5.

Global Distribution

Priceite is distributed in the following places:

8km north of Chetco, Curry Co. Oregon, USA
Death Valley, in the Monte Blanco area, in Corkscrew Wash, California
Furnace Creek district, Inyo Co.
Penobsquis and Salt Springs evaporite deposits, near Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada
Mesa del Almo, 13km southeast of Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico
Sultancayir borate deposit, Bursa Province, Turkey
Several deposits in the Bigadic borate district, Balikesir Province
Inder borate deposit, Kazakhstan
Meldon, Okehampton, Devon, England
Pohla mine, Schwarzemberg, Saxony, Germany
Radotin, Czech Republic