Wardite is an uncommon phosphate mineral that typically forms as small, attractive pyramidal crystals or botryoidal masses. It is a prized find for phosphate collectors and is most famously associated with the variscite nodules of Fairfield, Utah.
Is this wardite?
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 wardite with a known reference. Wardite sits at Mohs 5, 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: blue green, colorless, white, light green.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: tetragonal. Typical habit: encrustations, fibrous, radial.
Often confused with
Wardite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside wardite
Minerals reported to co-occur with wardite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- NaAl₃(PO₄)₂(OH)₄·2H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 5
- Density
- 2.81-2.87 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Transparent to opaque
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Crystal habit
- Encrustations, fibrous, radial
- Cleavage
- On {001}, perfect
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- A component of low-temperature phosphatic nodules; an uncommon species in complex zoned pegmatites
Where rockhounds find wardite
Classic worldwide localities
- Little Green Monster mine, Clay Canyon, about nine km west of Fairfield, Utah Co., USA
- Dunton quarry and the Bell Pit, Newry, Maine, USA
- Palermo #1 mine, North Groton, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, USA
- Hugo pegmatite, near Keystone, Pennington Co., and the Tip Top mine, 8.5 km southwest of Custer, Custer Co., South Dakota, USA
- Big Fish River–Rapid Creek area, Yukon Territory, Canada
- Lavra da Ilha pegmatite, in the Jequitinhonha River, three km north of Taquaral, and in the Pirineus mine, Itinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: A component of low-temperature phosphatic nodules; an uncommon species in complex zoned pegmatites. If you start seeing variscite, millisite, crandallite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: encrustations, fibrous, radial. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify wardite?+
Where is wardite found?+
What rocks look like wardite?+
What minerals are found with wardite?+
What kind of rock does wardite form in?+
What is wardite used for?+
Find wardite on the map
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