Kamacite Mineral Data

General Kamacite Information

Chemical Formula:

alpha-(Fe,Ni)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 56.13 gm

Iron 89.54 % Fe

Nickel 10.46 % Ni

______

100.00 %

Empirical Formula:

Fe⁰⁺_0.9Ni_0.1

Environment:

Major constituent of iron meteorites. Kamasite (1861) fails the 50% rule so it is a Ni-rich iron.

IMA Status:

Discredited IMA 2006 - Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1861

Locality:

Disko Island, Uivfaq, Blaafjeld, Greenland Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named from the Greek for "shaft" or "lath".

Name Pronunciation:

Kamacite

Synonym:

Plessite - Taenite and Kamacite

Kamacite Image

Images:

Carlsbergite Kamacite

Comments: Polished section showing a small light gray elongated inclusion of carlsbergite in massive kamacite.
Location: Kenton County meteorite, Kenton Co., Kentucky, USA. Scale: Picture size 0.08 mm.
© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Images:

Nickelphosphide Kamacite

Comments: Small inclusion of nickelphosphide in massive kamacite.
Location: Kenton County meteorite, Kenton Co., Kentucky, USA. Scale: Picture size 0.09 mm.
© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Images:

Troilite Cohenite Kamacite Taenite

Comments: Brown masses of troilite, with white cohenite, in kamacite/taenite matrix, in meteorite (polished section).
Location: Meteor Crater, Canyon Diablo, Coconino County, Arizona, USA. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Images:

Kamacite Taenite Troilite

Comments: Polished and acid etched slice, with crust, illustrating Widmanstaaten lines, with taenite darker areas between kamacite crystals, with tarnished troilite inclusions, in fine octahedrite meteorite.
Location: Gibeon Meteorite, found 1836, Great Namaqualand, Hardap, Namibia. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Images:

Melliniite Kamacite

Comments: Reflected-light image displaying an anhedral fragment of creamy-yellowish melliniite(1) associated with kamacite (2). AmMin, v91, p453.
Location: Northwest Africa 1054 acapulcoite. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Kamacite Crystallography

Cell Dimensions:

a = 8.603, Z = 54; V = 636.72 Den(Calc)= 7.90

Crystal System:

Isometric - Hexoctahedral H-M Symbol (4/m 3 2/m) Space Group: F m3m

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 2.03(1), 1.967(0.6), 1.435(0.3),

Physical Properties of Kamacite

Cleavage:

{???} Indistinct

Color:

Iron black, Steel gray.

Density:

7.9

Diaphaneity:

Opaque

Fracture:

Hackly - Jagged, torn surfaces, (e.g. fractured metals).

Habit:

Massive - Uniformly indistinguishable crystals forming large masses.

Hardness:

4 - Fluorite

Luster:

Metallic

Streak:

gray

Calculated Properties of Kamacite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=7.37 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Kamacite =7.90 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.02
Boson Index = 0.98

Photoelectric:

PE_Kamacite= 32.05 barns/electron
U=PE_Kamacite x rElectron Density= 236.35 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Kamacite is Not Radioactive

Kamacite Classification

Dana Class:

01.01.11.01 (01)Native Elements

(01.01)with metallic elements other than the platinum group

(01.01.11)Iron-Nickel group

01.01.11.00 Iron! Fe I m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.01.11.01 Kamacite? alpha-(Fe,Ni) F m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.01.11.02 Taenite gamma-(Fe,Ni) F m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.01.11.03 Tetrataenite FeNi P 4/mmm 4/m 2/m 2/m

01.01.11.04 Awaruite Ni2FetoNi3Fe P m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.01.11.05 Nickel Ni F m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.01.11.06 Wairauite CoFe P m3m 4/m 3 2/m

Strunz Class:

01.AE.05 01 - ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)

01.A - Metals and Intermetallic Alloys

01.AE -Iron-chromium family

01.AE.05 Chromium Cr I m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.AE.05 Kamacite? alpha-(Fe,Ni) F m3m 4/m 3 2/m

01.AE.05 Iron Fe I m3m 4/m 3 2/m

Other Kamacite Information

References:

NAME( AntBidBlaNic1) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Kamacite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info

Search for Kamacite using:

[AOL] [Bing] [Dog Pile] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [Lycos] [MAMMA] [Scirus] [Teoma] [WebCrawler] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Kamacite :

Ask about Kamacite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Kamacite Specimen Label here :

Kamacite

alpha-(Fe,Ni)
Dana No: 01.01.11.01 Strunz No: 01.AE.05
Locality:

Notes:

Dakota Matrix
Excalibur Minerals
Exceptional Minerals
Hudson Insitute
John Betts Fine Minerals
Mc Dougall Minerals
Mineral News
Rock and Mineral Shows
Weinrich Minerals, Inc.