Glushinskite is a rare magnesium oxalate mineral typically found as thin crusts or efflorescences on coal surfaces. It is most commonly identified in environments where organic matter has reacted with magnesium-rich fluids within coal deposits.
Is this glushinskite?
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 glushinskite with a known reference. Glushinskite 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: white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: subadamantine.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: white, colorless.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: crusts, efflorescences, radial aggregates.
Often confused with
Glushinskite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Weddellite is the harder of the two (Mohs ~4 vs. 2); luster reads subadamantine on Glushinskite and vitreous on Weddellite.
How to tell apart: Luster reads subadamantine on Glushinskite and vitreous, pearly on {010} and some cleavages on Whewellite.
Often found alongside glushinskite
Minerals reported to co-occur with glushinskite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Mg(C₂O₄)·2H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 2
- Density
- 1.85 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Subadamantine
- Transparency
- Semitransparent
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Crusts, efflorescences, radial aggregates
- Cleavage
- Perfect
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- As veinlets in brown coal seams impregnated with natural acetic acid (Chai-Tumus deposit, Russia)
Where rockhounds find glushinskite
Classic worldwide localities
- Chai-Tumus coal deposit, 200 km up from the Lena River estuary, Bulun district, polar Sakha, Russia
- Mill of Johnston, six km west-southwest of Insch, Kincardineshire, and on the Island of Rhum, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
- Lake Huleh basin, Jordan Rift Valley, Israel (α form)
- Gcwihaba Cave, 280 km west of Maun, northwestern Botswana
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: As veinlets in brown coal seams impregnated with natural acetic acid (Chai-Tumus deposit, Russia). If you start seeing whewellite, weddellite, calcite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: crusts, efflorescences, radial aggregates. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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What rocks look like glushinskite?+
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Find glushinskite on the map
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