Bazhenovite is a rare calcium-sulfur-bearing mineral known primarily from the Bazhenovskoye asbestos deposit in Russia. It typically forms thin, yellowish, platy or lamellar crystals within the cavities of altered serpentinite rocks.
Is this bazhenovite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch bazhenovite with a known reference. Bazhenovite sits at Mohs 2, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: pale yellow.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous, pearly on intergrowths of parallel plates.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: light yellow, orange.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: aggregates, bladed.
Often confused with
Bazhenovite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Bazhenovite leaves pale yellow, Native Sulfur leaves white; luster reads vitreous, pearly on intergrowths of parallel plates on Bazhenovite and resinous to greasy on Native Sulfur.
How to tell apart: Görgeyite is the harder of the two (Mohs 3.5-4 vs. 2); streak differs, so Bazhenovite leaves pale yellow, Görgeyite leaves white.
Often found alongside bazhenovite
Minerals reported to co-occur with bazhenovite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Ca₈S₅(S₂O₃)(OH)₁₂·20H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 2
- Density
- 1.83 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Pale yellow
- Luster
- Vitreous, pearly on intergrowths of parallel plates
- Transparency
- Transparent in thin crystals, translucent in aggregates
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Aggregates, bladed
- Cleavage
- {010}, very good
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- Among the melt products of old, burning coal dumps
Where rockhounds find bazhenovite
Classic worldwide localities
- Chelyabinsk coal basin, Southern Ural Mountains, Russia
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: Among the melt products of old, burning coal dumps. If you start seeing siderite, pyrite, iron in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: aggregates, bladed. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify bazhenovite?+
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What rocks look like bazhenovite?+
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Find bazhenovite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
