Olshanskyite is a rare calcium borate mineral typically found in high-temperature skarn environments. Collectors usually look for its characteristic white, radiating, or tabular crystal clusters found in association with other borate minerals.
Is this olshanskyite?
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 olshanskyite with a known reference. Olshanskyite sits at Mohs 3.5-4, 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: vitreous.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: white, colorless, light brown.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: triclinic. Typical habit: aggregates, fibrous, microscopic crystals.
Often confused with
Olshanskyite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside olshanskyite
Minerals reported to co-occur with olshanskyite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Ca₂[B₃O₃(OH)₆](OH)(H₂O)₃
- Mohs hardness
- 3.5-4
- Density
- 2.19-2.23 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Semitransparent
- Crystal system
- Triclinic
- Crystal habit
- Aggregates, fibrous, microscopic crystals
- Cleavage
- Perfect
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- In magnesian skarn (Titovskoye deposit, Russia); formed by alteration of nifontovite and some other anhydrous borate, near gehlenite-spurrite skarn (Fuka, Japan)
Where rockhounds find olshanskyite
Classic worldwide localities
- Titovskoye boron deposit, Tas-Khayakhtakh Range, Polar Sakha, Russia
- Fuka, near Bicchu, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: In magnesian skarn (Titovskoye deposit, Russia); formed by alteration of nifontovite and some other anhydrous borate, near gehlenite-spurrite skarn (Fuka, Japan). If you start seeing sakhaite, szaibélyite, calcite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: aggregates, fibrous, microscopic crystals. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify olshanskyite?+
Where is olshanskyite found?+
What rocks look like olshanskyite?+
What minerals are found with olshanskyite?+
What kind of rock does olshanskyite form in?+
What is olshanskyite used for?+
Find olshanskyite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
