Mineral Name: Apatite

Chemical Composition: Common Apatite: Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH)

Sub apatite groups: Fluorapatite -Ca5(PO4)3F

Chlorapatite - Ca5(PO4)3Cl

Hydroxyapatite - Ca5(PO4)3OH

(https://www.minerals.net/mineral/apatite.aspx)

Color: Green, brown, blue, yellow, violet, and pink (https://geology.com/minerals/apatite.shtml)

Streak: White

Hardness: 5

Cleavage/Fracture: Conchoidial Fracture/Indiscernible

Crystal Form: Hexagonal- hexagonal symmetry, and hydroxyapatite- monoclinic symmetry (https://geology.com/minerals/apatite.shtml)

Luster: Vitreous

Special Features: Apatite is the mineral used by all vertebrates to make up their bones and teeth, the hardness, and the crystal formation. (https://www.firemountaingems.com/resources/encyclobeadia/gem-notes/gmstnprprtsptt)

Varieties: Lazur- Apatite: a sky-blue variety of apatite, Osteolith: massive, earthy,impure variety of apatite, talkapatit- a name applied to an apparent magnesian variety of apatite, and much more.

(https://www.minerals.net/mineral/apatite.aspx)

Mineral Group: Apatite is in the Phosphate mineral group because it contains phosphorus. This group also includes fluorapatite, chlorapatite, hydroxylapatite, carbonate-rich apatite, and francolite. Apatite is also in the True Phosphates group because it has one or more metallic elements. Lastly it's in the Apitate group, which are minerals that contain isomorphous hexagonal phosphates, meaning all crystals in this group contain the same molecule arrangement but their specific elements can vary slightly.

(https://www.minerals.net/mineral/apatite.aspx)

Environment: Apatite is formed in a wide variety of conditions.The most notable deposits are in marine and lacustrine (ancient lake beds) environments in sedimentary rocks. Apatite can also be formed from organic debris like teeth, bones, fecal matter, ect. (cite) being buried in sediments and with increased temperature and pressure it becomes mineralized. Apatite also sometimes can form in hydrothermal veins and pegmate pockets, these often have great clarity and shape making them valuable.

(https://geology.com/minerals/apatite.shtml)

Associated Rock types: apatite is found in igneous rocks such as lunar granophyric granite angolite, lujavritite, adakite, borengite, ore olivinite,and ilmenite. Apatite can also be found in sedimentary rocks such as phosphate sandstones, mudstones, and granites, graywacke and biogenic rocks. (https://www.mindat.org/min-29229.html)

Occurrence in North America: The state of Maine has many locations with Apatite. Purple crystals can be found in the mountains of Mount Apatite in Auburn, Maine. It can also be found at Noyes Mountain Quarry and Emmons Quarry. Both areas are in Greenwood Maine. Apatite has been found in both New Hampshire, Massechussettes, New York, and New Jersey as well.

Economic Uses: The gemstone is extremely fragile and because of this, most people do not use it for jewelry reasons. Although it can still be found in some jewelers. Blue is the most demanded color for apatite jewelry. To make apatite jewelry you must be very careful due to its fragileness. For rings, the settings have to be made to hold such fragile stones to make sure it will support it properly. They are also susceptible to acid, heat and shock. It is recommended to never use mechanical cleaning products

Industrial Uses: When mined as a phosphate rock, apatite is used as a phosphorus source for fertilizer. It is mostly mined through surface mining, but there are some that come from underground mining. To determine how suitable the source is, they dissolve the rock in an acid solution that simulates the soil conditions. The ones that are highly reactive are the best ones to use. There is a large demand for fertilizer, and the phosphate rock is the only thing that provides enough of a phosphorus source to meet the high demand. It is also used to make animal feed supplements (phosphorus is very important to animals for skeletal tissue), phosphoric acid, and basic elemental phosphorus.

First Notable Identification: Was first recognized by German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner somewhere 1786 and was named from the greek word that meant ‘mislead’ because it was often mistaken for other minerals.

(https://www.intechopen.com/books/apatites-and-their-synthetic-analogues-synthesis-structure-properties-and-applications/introduction-to-apatites)

How We Identified It: We identify this mineral by the vibrant color. Most commonly greenish blue.

Don’t Confuse It With: Apatite can be confused with peridot which is a 6.5-7 on the hardness scale and is also very green in color, topaz which is more fiery vibrant colors such as red and orange, and also has a hardness of 8, aquamarine has a hardness of 7.5-8, and beryl which is also a 7.5-8 on the hardness scale and can be found in a multitude of different colors which are different from apatite, such as purples and browns.

Interesting: “Moon rocks collected by astronauts during the Apollo program contain traces of apatite.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatite)