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Petalite

Silicate mineral, used in ceramic glazing

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A 3 x 4 cm fragment of Petalite (LiAlSi 4 O 10 )from Minas Gerais State, Brazil.
Eurico Zimbres · CC BY-SA 2.5

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Petalite is significant because the element lithium was originally identified from petalite in Sweden in 1817. The element was named 'lithium,' from the greek word for 'stone', because it had been found in petalite.

Discovery and occurrence

Petalite was discovered in 1800, by Brazilian naturalist and statesman Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva. Type locality: Utö Island, Haninge, Stockholm, Sweden. The name is derived from the Greek word petalon, which means leaf, alluding to its perfect cleavage.

Economic deposits of petalite are found near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia; Aracuai, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Karibib, Namibia; Manitoba, Canada; and Bikita, Zimbabwe.

The first important economic application for petalite was as a raw material for the glass-ceramic cooking ware CorningWare. It has been used as a raw material for ceramic glazes.

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