Innelite is a rare barium-titanium silicate typically found as platy or tabular crystals within alkaline pegmatites. It is most easily identified by its distinctive yellowish-brown color and its close association with other rare minerals of the Lovozero Massif.
Is this innelite?
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 innelite with a known reference. Innelite sits at Mohs 4.75, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: yellowish-white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous on cleavages, slightly resinous on fractures.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: brown, light yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: triclinic. Typical habit: platy, radial.
Often confused with
Innelite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Innelite is noticeably harder (Mohs 4.75 vs. 2-3); streak differs, so Innelite leaves yellowish-white, Lamprophyllite leaves pale yellow, may have an orange tint; luster reads vitreous on cleavages, slightly resinous on fractures on Innelite and submetallic on cleavages on Lamprophyllite.
How to tell apart: Innelite is noticeably harder (Mohs 4.75 vs. 3); streak differs, so Innelite leaves yellowish-white, Astrophyllite leaves golden; luster reads vitreous on cleavages, slightly resinous on fractures on Innelite and submetallic, pearly, greasy on Astrophyllite.
Often found alongside innelite
Minerals reported to co-occur with innelite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Ba₄Ti₂Na(NaMn)Ti(Si₂O₇)₂[(SO₄)(PO₄)]O₂[O(OH)]
- Mohs hardness
- 4.75
- Density
- 3.96 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Yellowish-white
- Luster
- Vitreous on cleavages, slightly resinous on fractures
- Transparency
- Transparent to translucent
- Crystal system
- Triclinic
- Crystal habit
- Platy, radial
- Cleavage
- Perfect on {010}, {110}, {110}, good on {001}
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- In miarolitic cavities of aegirine-eckermannite-microcline pegmatites in dunites; in pulaskite and shonkinite
Where rockhounds find innelite
Classic worldwide localities
- Inagli massif, 30 km west of Aldan, and the Yakokut massif, near Schelochnoy Spring, Yakutia, Russia
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: In miarolitic cavities of aegirine-eckermannite-microcline pegmatites in dunites; in pulaskite and shonkinite. If you start seeing natrolite, albite, lorenzenite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: platy, radial. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify innelite?+
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Find innelite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
