Saponite is a trioctahedral mineral of the smectite group. Its chemical formula is .[ It is soluble in sulfuric acid. It was first described in 1840 by Svanberg. Varieties of saponite are griffithite, bowlingite and sobotkite.
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It is soft, massive, and plastic, and exists in veins and cavities in serpentinite and basalt. The name is derived from the Greek language sapo, soap. Other names include bowlingite; mountain soap; piotine; soapstone.
Occurrence
Saponite was first described in 1840 for an occurrence in Lizard Point, Landewednack, Cornwall, England.[ It occurs in hydrothermal veins, in basalt vesicles, , amphibolite and serpentinite. Associated minerals include
celadonite, Chlorite group, native copper, epidote, orthoclase, dolomite, calcite and quartz.][
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Saponite is found in Ząbkowice Śląskie in Silesia, Svärdsjö in Dalarna, Sweden and in Cornwall, UK. The soapstone of Cornwall is used in the porcelain factory. Saponite is also found in the "dark rims" of in carbonaceous chondrites and seen as a sign of aqueous alteration.
Application
The forecasted mass of saponite to be discharged into the tailings of diamond ore processing makes up millions of tons. Worryingly, when macro- and micro-components are found in non-hazardous concentrations, fewer efforts are put into the environmental management of the tailings, though technogenic sediments offer prospects for reuse and valorization beyond their traditional disposal. Saponite is a demonstrative example of the tailings constituent that is often left unfairly mistreated.
Electrochemical separation helps to obtain modified saponite-containing products with high smectite-group minerals concentrations, lower mineral particles size, more compact structure, and greater surface area. These characteristics open possibilities for the manufacture of high-quality ceramics and heavy-metal sorbents from saponite-containing products.
Synthetic saponites have defined chemical composition and reactive surface and serve as a substitute for . In contrast to the Pore structure in zeolites, saponites have a larger layer spacing and can also be used as Catalysis for larger organic molecules, e.g. in polymerization, isomerization and cracking.
See also
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Classification of minerals
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List of minerals
This article contains material from the U.S. Bureau of Mines Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms.
