Dypingite is a secondary magnesium carbonate mineral that typically forms as delicate white crusts or platy aggregates in weathered ultramafic environments. Collectors often find it as a fine-grained, chalky coating on serpentine rocks, where it is frequently misidentified as hydromagnesite.
Is this dypingite?
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 dypingite with a known reference. Dypingite sits at Mohs 2.5 — softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Dypingite leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Dypingite typically shows a pearly luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: white, colorless, pale blue.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: platy, foliated, or powdery crusts.
Often confused with
Dypingite vs. its common look-alikes — and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Hydromagnesite is the harder of the two (Mohs 3.5 vs. 2.5).
How to tell apart: Luster reads pearly on Dypingite and vitreous on Artinite.
How to tell apart: Magnesite is the harder of the two (Mohs 3.5-4.5 vs. 2.5); luster reads pearly on Dypingite and vitreous on Magnesite.
Often found alongside dypingite
Minerals reported to co-occur with dypingite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·5H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 2.16 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Pearly
- Transparency
- Translucent
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Platy, Foliated, Or Powdery Crusts
- Cleavage
- Perfect
- Fluorescence
- White to Light Blue Under SW UV
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Uses
- Collector, Scientific Research
- Host rock
- Altered Ultramafic Rocks and Serpentinite
- Typical price
- $15-60 thumbnail
Where rockhounds find dypingite
Classic worldwide localities
- Dypingdal, Norway
- Sierra Nevada, Spain
- Woodsreef, Australia
- New Idria, USA
Field-hunting tip
Look in altered ultramafic rocks and serpentinite country — that is the host setting where dypingite typically forms. If you start seeing hydromagnesite, serpentine, brucite in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a platy, foliated, or powdery crusts habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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Find dypingite on the map
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