Image: Wikimedia Commons

afghanite

Tectosilicate mineral

Also known as IMA1967-041

Instance of: mineral species
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (November 2018)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: complex-sequence cancrinites
1
Sources
1.Stated in Fleischer’s Glossary of Mineral Species 2014
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, zeolite frameworks
, gemstone

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Afghanite, (Na,K)22Ca10[Si24Al24O96](SO4)6Cl6, is a hydrous sodium, calcium, potassium, sulfate, chloride, carbonate alumino-silicate mineral. Afghanite is a feldspathoid of the cancrinite group and typically occurs with sodalite group minerals. It forms blue to colorless, typically massive crystals in the trigonal crystal system. The lowering of the symmetry from typical (for cancrinite group) hexagonal one is due to ordering of Si and Al. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6 and a specific gravity of 2.55 to 2.65. It has refractive index values of nω = 1.523 and nε = 1.529. It has one direction of perfect cleavage and exhibits conchoidal fracture. It fluoresces a bright orange.

Overview

All data

27 statements · 52% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Nickel-Strunz 9th edition (updated 2009): 9.FB.05
1
Sources
1.Stated in mineralienatlas.de
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Nickel-Strunz '10th ed', review of (9th ed/ 2009 update): 9.FB.05
1
Sources
1.Stated in MinDat
View statement on Wikidata ↗
IMA status and/or rank: approved mineral and/or valid name (A)
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (February 2013)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Named after: Afghanistan
1
Sources
1.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Afghanite
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Space group: space group P31c
1
Sources
1.Stated in mineralienatlas.de
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Color: blue
colorless
Crystal system: trigonal crystal system
1
Sources
1.Stated in mineralienatlas.de
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Type locality (geology): Ladjuar Medam
1
Sources
1.Stated in MinDat
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Streak color: white
IMA Mineral Symbol: Afg
1
Sources
1.Stated in IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Formula: (Na,K)₂₂Ca₁₀(Si₂₄Al₂₄)O₉₆(SO₄)₆Cl₆
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (December 2014)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Strunz 8th edition (series ID, updated): VIII/F.05
1
Sources
1.Stated in Mineralogische Tabellen : Eine Klassifizierung der Mineralien auf kristallchemischer Grundlage, mit einer Einfuhrung in die Kristallchemie (1982)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Point group: ditrigonal pyramidal

On other databases

7 identifiers linking afghanite across the web's reference databases

Dana 8th edition76.2.5.1
Freebase ID/m/07hnpy
IMA Number, broad senseIMA1967-041
Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued)2778995548
Mindat mineral ID41
Minerals.net mineral and gemstone IDmineral/afghanite
Wolfram Language entity codeEntity["Mineral", "Afghanite"]

Data quality

statements

52%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 30, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q978346

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDb. (2026). afghanite (Q978346). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/afghanite-Q978346