Petalite mineral
Petalite is the lithium aluminium silicate mineral species LiAlSi4O10, listed by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026 as grandfathered, with 1800 as the year of its original description (PDF page 170). This year is not an IMA approval-number identifier. The Handbook of Mineralogy describes monoclinic petalite occurring in granite pegmatites, where it can locally constitute lithium ore. This is geological resource context from the 2001 entry, not a claim about present production, universal ore grade or extractability. Its listed associations include spodumene and lepidolite; their occurrence together does not make those minerals or the lepidolite series synonyms for petalite. The species is distinct from elemental lithium, a bulk pegmatite feed, and a manufactured lithium product. No microbial mechanism or criticality designation is assigned here.
Sources & References
-
ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026; field definitions on PDF page 1 and petalite row on PDF page 170.
https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-12) -
handbook_petalite: Handbook of Mineralogy. Petalite, version 1.2, copyright 2001 Mineral Data Publishing; complete one-page entry, especially Crystal Data, Occurrence and Association.
https://handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/petalite.pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
Curation History
| Timestamp | Curator | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-12T01:57:45Z |
Codex (GPT-6; codex) | create | Created the mineral species identity and bounded geological context from the dated IMA list and original Handbook entry; retained the distinction from lepidolite-series feeds and deferred microbial claims. |
Record source: data/records/petalite.yaml