Crystal Chemistry 

of Beryllium 

5 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 468 

Crystal Chemistry 

of Beryllium 

By MALCOLM ROSS 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 468 

A detailed discussion of the crystal chemistry 

of all the known beryllium minerals 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1964 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEW ART L. UDALL, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Thomas B. Nolan, Director 

The U.S. Geological Survey Library has cataloged this publication as follows: 

Ross, Malcolm, 1929-

Crystal chemistry of beryllium. Washington, U.S. Govt. 

Print. Off., 1964. 

iv, 30 p. illus., diagrs., tables. 29 em. (U.S. Geological Survey. 

Professional paper 468) 

Bibliography : p. 28-30. 

1. Beryllium. 2. Crystallization. I. Title. (Series) 

For safe by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 
CONTENTS 

Abstract __________________________________________ _ 

Introduction ______________________________________ _ 

The beryllium minerals _____________________________ _ 

Amino.ffite ____________________________________ _ 

Barylite ______________________________________ _ 

Bavenite ______________________________________ _ 

Bertrandite ___________________________________ _ 

Beryl------------------------------------------ Bazzite _______________________________________ _ 

Beryllite ______________________________________ _ 

Beryllonite ____________________________________ _ 

Beryllosodalite ________________________________ _ 

Bityite _______________________________________ _ 

Bromellite ____________________________________ _ 

Chkalovite ___________________________________ - _ 

Chrysoberyl ___________________________________ _ 

Epididymite __________________________________ - _ 

Eudidymite ___________________________________ _ 

Faheyite ______________________________________ _ 

Gelbertrandite _________________________________ _ 

Ilamber~te------------------------------------

IIarsti~te _______________________________ -- ___ --

Helvite _______________________________________ _ 

J)analite ______________________________________ _ 

Genthelvite ___________________________________ _ 

Herderite _____________________________________ _ 

Gadolinite ____________________________________ _ 

Hsianghualite _________________________________ _ 

II urlbutite ____________________________________ _ 

]{arpinskyite __________________________________ _ 

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The beryllium minerals-continued 

Gu~aite ________ -------------------------------

leucophanite _ - - __ --------------------------

meliphanite __ - __ ---------------------------

Milarite ______ -- _------------------------------ Moraesite _____________________________________ _ 

Bearsite _____ ---------------------------------- Phenakite _____________________________________ _ 

Rhodizite ____ ---------------------------------- Roscherite ____________________________________ _ 

Spherobertrandite-------------------------------

Swedenbor~te---------------------------------- Taaffeite ______________________________________ _ 

Tengerite _____________________________________ _ 

Trimerite _____________________________________ _ 

Vayrynenite ___________________________________ _ 

Euclase ____ ------------------------------------

The ·beryllium compounds __ -------------------------

Be(H20)4S04-----------------------------------

~-Be(OH)2-------------------------------------

BeS04-----------------------------------------

BeGe04---------------------------------'-------

BeS--------------------------------------~---- BeSe _________________________________________ _ 

BeTe _________________________________________ _ 

BeSiN2----------------------------------------

BeC12-----------------------------------------

Be(CHah- ------------------------------------- Basic beryllium acetate, Be40(CHaC00)&----------

Beryllium phthalocyanine, Be Cs2H t6N s----- - - - - - - --

The beryllium fluorides ___ ----------------------- Conclusions _______________________________________ _ 

References _______ -_--------------------------:..-.----

ILLUSTRATIONS 

F1 GURE 1. The crystal structure of barylite ________________________ ----------------------------------------------

2. The crystal structure of bertrandite (after Ito and West)------------------------------------------------

3. The crystal structure of bertrandite (after Solovieva and Belov)----- -------------------------------------

4.. The crystal structure of beryl __________________________ - ----- - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - -

5. The structure of the Si60 1s ring in beryL ______________ -_---------------... ------------------------------

6. The crystal structure of beryllonite _____________________ ----------------------------------------------

7. The arrangement of tetrahedra and octahedra in layers I and II of chrysobery L- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

8. The crystal structure of hambergite _____________________ ----------------------------------------------

U. The crystal structure of herderite ___________________ --------------------------------------------------

10. The arrangement of the calcium polyhedra in herderite ____ ---------------------------------------------- 11. The arrangement of the yttrium and iron polyhedra in gadolinite ________________________________________ _ 

12. The crystal structure of hurlbutite ______________________ ----------------------------------------------

13. The crystal structure of melilite ____________________ - _------------------------------------------------

14. The arrangement of the calcium polyhedra in melilite_--------------------------------------------------

15. The crystal structure of milarite projected on (1010)----------------------------------------------------

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IV CONTENTS 

FIGURE 16. The crystal structure of milarite projected on (0001)---------------------------------------------------- 18 

17. A comparison of the beryl and milarite structures_______________________________________________________ 19 

18. The crystal structure of swedenborgite________________________________________________________________ 21 

19. A comparison of the vayrynenite and euclase structures_________________________________________________ 23 

20. The beryllium phthalocyanine molecule_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 25 

TABLES 

Page 

TABLE 1. The bery lli urn minerals____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 

2. Chemical composition of Bavenite _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 

3. Charge distribution on the oxygen atoms in hurlbutite and danburite______________________________________ 15 

4. Bond lengths in the hurlbutite structure_______________________________________________________________ 15 

5. Crystallography of gugiaite, leucophanite, meliphanite, and the related minerals melilite and hardystonite _ _ _ _ _ 16 

6. Chemical composition of gugiaite, leucophanite, and meliphanite_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 17 

7. Bond lengths in milarite_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 19 

8. The beryllium compounds __ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 

9. The beryllium fluoride compounds and their structural analogs-------------------""----------------------- 26 

10. The beryllium-anion bond lengths ____________________________________________ ..:._______________________ 27 
CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

By MALCOLM Ross 

ABSTRACT 

The present study is a compilation of the X-ray crystallography, chemistry, and crystal chemistry of all the known minerals 

containing essential amounts of beryllium. These minerals are: 

aminoffite, barylite, bavenite, bazzite, bearsite, bertrandite, 

beryl, beryllite, beryllonite, beryllosodalite, bityite, bromellite, 

chkalovite, chrysoberyl, danalite, epididymite, euclase, eudidymite, faheyite, gadolinite, gelbertrandite, genthelvite, gugiaite, 

hambergite, harstigite, helvite, herderite, hsianghualite, hurlbutite, karpinskyite, leucophanite, meliphanite, milarite, moraesite, phenakite, rhodizite, roscherite, spherobertrandite, swedenborgite, taa:ffeite, tengerite, trimerite, and vayrynenite. The Xray crystallography and crystal structure of the following inorganic and organic beryllium compounds are also given: 

Be(H20)4S04, ,8-Be(OH)2, BeS04, BeGe04, BeS, BeSe, BeTe, 

Be SiN 2, BeOl2, Be ( OHa) 2, Be40 ( OHaOOO) s, BeOa2H1sN s, and the 

beryllium fluorides. In all but one compound (beryllium 

phthalocyanine) beryllium is reported to be tetrahedrally coordinated. In beryllium phthalocyanine Be. is in planar coordination. A summary of the bond distances between beryllium 

and the coordinating anions is presented. The average beryllium-oxygen bond distance in those structures believed to be accurately determined is 1.636 A: the average Be-OH bond distance 

is 1.650 A. 

INTRODUCTION 

Beryllium is one of the less abundant elements; recent 

estimates (Fleischer and Cameron, 1955; Warner and 

others, 1959) give 0.0005 to 0.0006 percent for the content of the earth's crust. This element occurs primarily 

in the igneous rocks where it is one of the last components to crystallize. In the early stages of magmatic 

crystallization the concentration of beryllium is low and 

it is thus not incorporated in any appreciable quantities 

in the structures of ferromagnesian silicates and feldspars. It tends to be concentrated in the late magmatic 

and early hydrothermal stages and crystallizes as an 

essential constituent in such minerals as bery 1 and 

chrysobery 1. 

Sandell ( 1952) found the average Be content of seven 

granitic composites to be 3 ppm where the Si02 content 

varied between 68 and 78 percent. He found 4 ppm 

Be in An2sAb12, 1 ppm in microcline, and lh ppm in 

biotite. Sandell suggests the mechanism Be+ Ca for 

Na+ AI to account for·the presence of Be in the feld.:. 

spars. 

The beryllium ion (Be2+) has a radius of 0.33 A 

(Green, 1959) and appears to be of a size that will permit it to readily substitute for tetrahedral Si4+, AP+, 

P 5+ and S6+. If such a substitution occurs, the deficiency 

of positive charge must be adjusted for by replacement 

of other cations with ones of higher charge. For example, Rankama and Sahama ( 1950, p. 126) postulate 

that the small content of lanthanum sometimes present 

in potassium feldspar is a result of the substitution of 

La3+ for K+ simultaneously with Be2+ for Si4+. As will 

be discussed later, such substitution mechanisms, if they 

do occur, occur only to a very limited extent. This is 

probably because of the rather unsatisfactory distribution of charges on to the anions such that Pauling's 

rules are not very well obeyed. 

The first part of this report is a compilation of the 

X-ray crystallography, chemistry, and crystal chemistry of all the known minerals containing essential 

amounts of beryllium. The second part is a presentation of the crystallography and crystal chemistry of a 

number of inorganic and organic beryllium compounds. 

I would like to thank several of my colleagues for 

their help : C. L. Christ suggested this study of the 

crystal chemistry of beryllium, and he and Michael 

Fleischer made numerous suggestions for improving 

the manuscript; Douglas C. Alverson translated anumber of Russian publications into English for me. I am 

also particularly indebted to Michael Fleischer for 

bringing to my attention much of the current Russian 

literature on the beryllium minerals. 

THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 

Apparently, 43 minerals have been described that 

contain an essential amount of beryllium.1 These are 

listed in table 1. Some of these minerals are of deubtful 

validity and several have question~ble chemical formulas. The various minerals are discussed individually. 

If known, the unit-cell dimensions, space group, densi1 For the purposes of this report an "essential amount of berylli~". is defined as the amount of beryllium needed to fill at least 50 percent of the eqmpomts of one set of equivalent positions in the crystal structure. 

1 
2 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

ties, and number of formulas per unit cell are given.2 

Chemical analyses or references to lists of chemical 

analyseS are given for most of the minerals. For a few 

minerals, where there appears to be no question of the 

validity of the chemical formula, the chemical composition is not discussed. The crystal structures of more 

than half of the beryllium minerals are known or partly 

known and these are discussed in detail. 

The present study will not touch on the mineralogy 

or petrology of these minerals. These subjects are considered in great detail in the recent book, "The Geochemistry of Beryllium and Genetic Types of Beryllium Deposits," by the Russian mineralogist, A. A. Beus 

(1960). 

The mineral kolbeckite, once believed to be a phosphate or silicophosphate of beryllium, has been shown 

TABLE 1.-The beryllium minerals 

Name 

Aminoffi.te ______ _ · Barylite ________ _ Bavenite ________ _ Bazzite _________ _ Bearsite ________ _ 

Bertrandite _____ _ BeryL __________ _ Beryllite ________ _ Beryllonite ______ _ 

Beryllosodalite __ _ Bityite _________ _ 

Bromellite ______ _ Chkalovite ______ _ 

ChrysoberyL ____ _ Danalite ________ _ 

Epididymite ____ _ Euclase _________ _ Eudidymite _____ _ Faheyite ________ _ Gadolinite ______ _ 

Gelbertrandite ___ _ Genthelvite _____ _ Gugiaite ________ _ 

Hambergite _____ _ Harstigite _______ _ Helvite _________ _ Herderite _______ _ 

Hsianghualite ___ _ Hurlbutite ______ _ 

Karpinskyite ____ _ Leucophanite ____ _ Meliphanite _____ _ Milarite ________ _ 

Moraesite _______ _ Phenakite _______ _ Rhodizite _______ _ 

Roscherite ______ _ 

Spherobertrandite 

Swedenborgite ___ _ Taaffeite ________ _ Tengerite _______ _ Trimerite _______ _ Vayrynenite _____ _ 

2 The following abbreviations will be used in this work: a, b, c; a, {J, 'Y-unit-cell edges; unit-cell angles V=volume of unit cell 

D,. =measured density · D,.=calculated density Z=number of formula units per unit cell 

A =angstrom unit oo-scm) 

kX=0.997984 times A. Unit-cell edges are assumed to be in angstrom units 

for substances described after 1948 and in kXunits for substances described prior to 1949. Unless otherwise noted, the numerical values 

of the unit-cell edges are those originally presented in the references. 

by Mary E. Mrose, U.S. Geological Survey (oral communication, 1962), to be a scandium phosphate with 

the formula Sc(P04).2H20. 

Tetragonal: 

AM:INOFFITB 

CR2(Be,Al) Si206(0H)t 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

(Hurlbut, 1937] 

:~===== ~~: ~ ~i .I 

D,. __________ 2.94 g/cm3 

z ___________ 12 

v _____ 1866 kxa Dz---------- 3.03 g/cm3 

Space group: 14/mmm 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Hurlbut, 1937, p. 292. Numbers of ions on the basis of Si=2.00] 

Weight 

percent Ratio~ 

Si 02 - - - - - - - - 42.49 2. 00 CaO _______ -

Ali-03------- 4. 41 . 13 H20-- ------

BeO- _ - - --- - 6.20 . 70 

Fe20s------- . 31 . 01 

Mn.o _______ . 19 .01 

CR2.oa(Be,Al, Fe) .tsSi2.0o06.16(0Hh .02 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Weight 

percent RatiO& 

40. 27 2.03 

6. 45 1. 01 

100. 32 

This mineral may be related structurally to the minerals of the melilite group. 

BARYLITB 

BaBe2~i201 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Smith, 1956; Abrashev and Belov, 1962] 

~ Orthorhombic: a ___________ 9.80±0.01 A D,. _________ 4.03 g/cm3 

b ___________ 11.65±0.03 A z __________ 4 

c ___________ 4.71±0.02 A D:e--------- 4.08 g/cm3 

v __________ 526 A3 

Space group: Pn21a, piezoelectric 

X-ray powder data (Smith, 1956) 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Numbers of ions on the basis of Si=2.00] 

Si02------------------------ Be0 _______________________ _ BaO _______________________ _ 

CaO ________ - __ - - _________ _ MgO ______________________ _ 

PbO ____ - _ - _ - - --- - - - - - - - - -- FeO _______________________ _ 

Fe20a----------------------- Ab03--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - H20------------------------

Amino!! (19BS) 

Weight 

percent 

35.51 

16. 01 

47. 43 

. 42 

. 21 

-04 

. 05 

. 57 

100. 24 

Ratios 

2. 00 

2. 17 

L 05 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Abrashev and Belov, 1962] 

Palache and Bauer (1990) 

Weight 

percent 

36. 42 

15.77 

46. 49 

. 29 

.11 

. 19 

. 40 

99.67 

Ratios 

2. 00 

2. 08 

~J 00 

The barylite structure is found to be composed of 

linked Be04 and Si04 tetrahedra. Each of two corners 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 3 

of the Be04 tetrahedra are shared with another Be04 

group and one Si04 group. Each of the other two 

corners are shared with an Si04 group. The Si04 

groups link together in pairs to form Si20 7 double .tetrahedra. One corner of each Si04 tetrahedron is shared 

with a like group, one corner with two Be04 groups, 

and two corners with a single Be04 tetrahedron. The 

Be04 tetrahedra link to form pyroxenelike chains 

oriented parallel to the a-axis. The repeat distance 

along the chains is 4. 71 A (the a-dimension), and is the 

length measured parallel to c of two linked Be04 tetrahedra. The Si207 groups are oriented with the Si-Si 

axes parallel to b and link the ( Be03 ) " 4,._ chains together to form the three-dimensional structure shown 

in figure 1. Large cavities appear in the framework 

and are composed of four Si201 groups and four Be04 

tetrahedra, two each from two different (Be03 ),.4nchains. Into these large cavities fit the barium ions. 

These ions are in approximately twelvefold coordination. 

The bond lengths were found to have the following 

range in angstroms : 

Angstroms 

(8) Si-0 ________ 1. 63-1. 70 

(8) Be-0 _______ 1. 64-1. 70 

(12) Ba-0 _______ 2. 82-3. 34. 

BAVENITE 

Ca4(Be,Al)4(Si,Al)g02&(0H)2? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Clarlngbull, 1940. For chemical composition of bavenlte see table 2] 

Orthorhombic: 

a ______ 19.34 kX Dm---------- 2.74 g/cms b ______ 23.06 kX z ___________ 4 

c ______ 4.95 kX D:r---------- 2.80g/cma V _ _ _ _ _ 2208 kXs 

X-ray powder data (Fleischer and Switzer, 1953) 

BERTRANDITE 

Be4Si201(0H)2 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Solovieva and Belov, 1961; Ito and West, 1932] 

Orthorhombic: 

a ______ 8.73 A V ___________ 612 A3 

b ______ 15.31 A z ___________ 4 

c ______ 4.58 A Dz---------- 2.58g/cm3 

Space group: Cmc211 pyroelectric 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Dana, 1892, p. 546. Numbers of ion.-; on the basis of Si-2.00] 

Weight percent RatiO& 

(1) (B) (S) (1) (B) (S) 

Si 02 - - - - - - - - - 49. 60 49. 26 51.8 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 

BeO __________ 42. 62 42. 00 39.6 4. 13 4. 10 3. 67 

CaO ____ -- _-- 1.0 . 04 

Fe20a- - ------ Tr. 1. 40 . 02 

AhOa- - - - - - - - Tr. 

H20- - - - - ---- 7. 94 6. 90 8.4 1. 07 . 93 1. 08 

100. 16 99.56 100. 8 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Ito and West, 1932; Solovieva and Belov, 1961) 

The bertrandite structure, as Ito and West postulate 

it, is built up of linked Si04, Be04, and Be02 ( OH) 2 

tetrahedra. The structure is based on an arrangement 

of close-packed oxygen atoms with beryllium and silicon 

occupying tetrahedral holes. This model is depicted 

in figure 2 which shows tlfe bertrandite structure projected on ( 001). 

One half of the silicon tetrahedra form infinite SiOa 

chains parallel to e which alternate with two infinite 

Be03 chains to form strips of the composition Be2SiOa. 

The Be04 a,nd Si04 tetrahedra within this strip are positioned with their bases parallel to ( 001). Successive 

tetrahedra in this strip are joined up in such a way that 

TABLE 2.-Chemical composit~on of bavenite 

[Samples 1-5, Fleischer and Switzer, 1953; 6, Beus, 1960, p. 45-49; 7, Switzer and Reichen, 1960. Numbers of ions on the basis of 26.00 oxygens and 2.00 OH] 

2 3 4 5 6 7 

Weight Ratios Weight Ratios Weight Ratios Weight Ratios Weight Ratios Weight Ratios Weight Ratios percent percent percent percent percent percent percent 

-------1----------------------------------------

sto,___________________ 57.11 s. 90 57.25 s. 91 

~!!g!~================= 9: ~ } . 89 { 9: ~g } . 91 { Beo___________________ 6. 60 2. 47 6. 33 2. 38 cao___________________ 24.30 4. 06 24.35 4. 06 

Mno __________________ ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

MgO _ ----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- NasO------------------ ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- n,o+ _ ----------------- . 1. 87 . 97 1.00 . 99 RIO-__________________ ---------------------------------------- Other__________________ . 31 __________ . 31 _________ _ 

58.92 

6.88 } .07 

7. 72 23.26 .01 

.13 

44 2.41 

.06 

.04 

99.90 ---------- 100.13 ---------- 99.94 

1. C84.oo(Be,Al)4.u(Si,Al)e.oo026(0H)2 2. C84.oo(Be,Al)ut (Si,Al)v.oo02&(0H)2 3. (Ca,Mg,Na)4.oa(Be,Alk14Stua026(0H)2 4. (Ca,Mg,Nah.oa(Be,Al)u&Sie.a5028(0H)2 

9. 13. 59. 13 9. 35 57. 64 9. 11 55.25 

8.26 ' 1. 18 1 

8.82 

.85 { 

2.69 

4.13 

57.04 

9.62 } .60 

5.52 

23.44 

9.05 

.94 

2.10 

3.99 

. 63 { 7. 00 . 64 6. 46 . 60 

2. 88 ----7:14- -----2:67- -----7:66- -----2:91- 7.00 a~ moo a~ moo ~oo 24.15 

.03 

.07 

1.25 

:81 ------:o1- ========== ========== ========== ========== ------:22- ========== 2: !g 1: g~ -----3:56- -----i:ss- -----4:oo- -----2:13- -----2:86- ------1:51 . 00 . 32 ---------- ---------- ---------- . 14 ---------- .16 ---------- ---------- ---------- . 74 ---------- ---------- ----------

100.01 ---------- 99.60 ---------- 100. 58 ---------- 99.44 ---------

5. C84.oo(Be,Al)4.uSiut028(0H)2 6. C84.ts(Be,Al)4.2t(Si,Al)D.oo028(0H)2 7. Cas.eD(Be,ADusSie.06026(0H)2 
4 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLL~ 

FIOURE 1.-The crystal structure of barylite, BaBe2Si20 7. Reprinted from A brashev 

and Belov, 1962. The stippled tetrahedra are the Be04 groups; the lined tetra- hedra are the Si04 groups. The large circles represent barium atoms. The 

(BeOa),.'"- chains run parallel to the c-axis. 

the apex of one becomes -a corner of the base of the next. 

The two types of chains link into the Be2Si06 strips by 

sharing two corners of each base. All oxygen atoms in 

the Be04 tetrahedra coordinate two beryllium atoms 

and one silicon atom. The basal oxygens in the Si04 

tetrahedra coordinate two Be atoms and one silicon 

atom. The apical oxygens of each Sio: tetrahedra 

coordinate two silicon atoms only. 

The Be2Si06 strips alternate with strips of the composition Be20a ( OH) 2· These latter strips consist of 

infinite Be02(0H) chains lying parallel to c. The 

Be02(0H)2 tetrahedra that form these chains link in 

the same manner as the Be04 and Si04 tetrahedra but 

are oriented so that the apices point in the opposite 

dire~tion. The Be02(0H) chains are linked into the 

strips by sharing one corner of each base. 

The two types of strips link into a three-dimensional 

network as shown in figure 2. Additional Si04 tetrahedra are situated between the strips. Each oxygen 

atom of these tetrahedra coordinates one silicon atom 

and two beryllium atoms. The two oxygen atoms of 

FJGURE 2.-The bertrandite, Be4Si207(0H)2, structure as postulated by Ito and West (1932). 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 5 

FIGURE 3.-Bertrandite, Be,Si207(0H)2. Reprinted from Solovieva and Belov, 1961. BeO, tetrahedra, unshaded; SiQ, tetrahedra shaded. 

the Be02 ( OH) 2 tetrahedra also coordinate one Si and 

two Be atoms. The two (OH) groups coordinate two 

beryllium atoms only. 

Ito and West's structure is a model only and probably, in view of the work of Solovieva and Belov (1961), 

is not correct. 

Solovieva and Belov ( 1961) recently determined the 

crystal structure of bertrandite from analysis of hkO 

and Okl intensity data. Their structure is different from 

that given by Ito and West as can be seen in figure 3 

which shows a projection of the structure on ( 001). 

Each BeOa(OH) tetrahedron shares the (OH) corner 

with another BeOa(OH) tetrahedron, and each of the 

oxygen corners with one Si04 tetrahedron and one 

BeOa ( OH) tetrahedron. The Si04 tetrahedra share 

one corner with another Si04 tetrahedron and each of 

the other three corners with two Be03 ( OH) groups. In 

this way a three-dimensional framework structure is 

formed. The structure may be also viewed as being 

formed of linked double Si201 and Be20 6 ( OH) tetrahedra. 

BERYL 

Al2BeaSi601s 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Bragg and West, 1926] 

Hexagonal: 

a ______ 9.21 kX z ___________ 2 

c ______ 9.17 kX Dx---------- 2.63 g/cms V _____ 673.6 kXS 

Space group: P6/mcc 

CHEMICAl" ... COMPOSITION 

Beus (1960, p. 66-90) gives a very complete description of the chemistry of beryl including 38 chemical 

analyses. Schaller, Stevens, and Jahns (1962) have 

695-379 0-64-2 

proposed two main solid-solution series for the beryls. 

They are given as follows : 

1. Rt(AI2-zLiz)(Bes-zAlz)Si&Ols·nH20 (where x=O to 0.5) 

and 

2. Rt(AI2-zMgz)BesSi60ls·nH20 (where x=O to 0.55). 

If w=O we have the ideal end-member Al2BeaSi601s 

which is never found in nature. R+ may be Cs, Rb, Na, 

or K. Fe3+ may replace AI in the octahedral sites, and 

Mn2+ and Fe2+ may replace Mg in the octahedral sites. 

Only small smounts ( (f to 2.5 percent) of H20 appear 

in the beryl analyses. 

CRYSTAIJSTRUCTURE 

[Bragg and West, 1926; Belov and Matveeva, 1951; Schaller, Stevens, and Jahns, 1962 

The bery 1 structure contains rings of the composition 

Si60 1s and are composed of six Si04 tetrahedra sharing 

corners. Figure 4 shows these rings projected on 

( 0001). Figure 17 shows a projection of the beryl 

structure perpendicular to c. The Si60ts rings are 

linked together into a three-dimensional structure by 

AI octahedra· and BeO 4 tetrahedra as shown in figures 

4 and 17. In the solid solution series described above 

AI, Li, Mg, Mn+2, Fe+2, and Fe+3 can appear in the 

octahedral sites. In the tetrahedral sites outside the 

Si601s rings, Be and AI can appear. There appears to 

be no substitution of other cations for silicon. 

The cesium, rubidium, sodium, and potassium ions 

and also the water molecules are probably situated 

within the tunnels running through the center of the 

Si601s rings. The openings in the rings are shown i.n 

figures 4 and 5. In figure 5 the possible location of a 

cesium ion is shown. The role of Na+, K+, Rb+, and Cs+ 
6 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

FIGURE 4.-The beryl, Al2BeaSiGOJa, structure projected on (0001). Each ring of shaded tetrahedra represents an SiGO}~- gronp. The solid black circles 

represent Be2+ ions, and the open circles Al3+ ions. Reprinted from Schaller, Stevens, and Jahns, 1962. 

in the beryl structure is much disputed and we must 

wait for an accurate structure determination of a bery 1 

containing a large amount of these alkalies before we 

can be sure of their true position in the lattice. It is 

interesting to note that . the presence of appreciable 

amounts of the alkali metals, particularly the large 

cesium ions, causes an increase in the c dimension. The 

a-dimension is apparently not affected by the alkali 

content. 

Belov and Matveeva (1951) found the following bond 

lengths in bery 1 : 

Angstroms 

Be-0___ _ _ _ _ _ 1.64 

Si-0__ _ __ _ _ _ _ 1.60 

Al-0 ________ 1.95 

BAZZITE 

R ... (Sc, AI, Fe, Mg),BeaSia01s? 

Hexagonal: 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Peyronel, 1956] 

a _____________________________ 9.51 A c ______________________________ 9.11 

v _____________________________ 713.5 A3 

Dm--------------------------- 2.819 g/cm3 z _____________________________ 2 

Dz------------------------ ____ 2.809-2.825 g/cms 

Space group: P6/mcc 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

Bazzite is a rare mineral and has only been analyzed 

spectrographically. The major constituents appear to 

be Be, Si, AI, Mg, and Sc. Lesser amounts of Fe, N a1 

and Ba are present. ~inor amounts of Cu, Ga, V, Sn, 

Y, Yb, and Ag have been found (Huttenlocher, Hugi, 

and Nowacki, 1954). 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Peyronel, 1956] 

Peyronel ( 1956) worked out the crystal structure of 

a bazzite containing Sc, Fe, Na, Y, Yh, AI and Si. He 

found the mineral to be isostructural with beryl. Scandium appears to occupy the octahedral sites. 

BERYLLITE 

BesSi207(0H)4.2H20? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Kuz'menko, 1954] 

Dm=2.196 g/cm3 

X-ray powder data given 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Beus, 1000, p. 103. Numbers of ions on the basis of 7.00 oxygens and 4.00 OH] 

Si02--------

Al20a-- ----- Fe20a-------

Ti02--------

Mg0 ___ ----- BeO _______ _ 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent Ratios 

34. 10 1. 83 CaO__ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 50 ------

1.. 6

1

3

2 

} . 05 Na2o_______ 2. 42 ------

Tr. H20+-- ----- 138.. 2955 } 3. 98 H2o- _____ - - Tr. _____ _ 

40.00 5.17 100. 97 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 7 

Si4+ ion Cs+ion 

FIGURE 5.-The structure of the SisOl~- ring in beryl projected on (0001). The 

opening in the center of the ring is apparently sumciently large to accommodate a 

Cs+ ion, one of which is shown in the center of the diagram. Reprinted from 

Schaller, Stevens, and Jahns, 1962. 

Monoclinic: 

a ______ 

b ______ 

c_----- fJ ______ 

BER YLLONITE 

NaBeP04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Wehrenberg, 1954] 

8.16 A v_--

7.79 A Dm--

14.08 A z ____ goo Dz---

895 A3 

2.81 g/cm3 

12 

2.831 g/cm2 

Space group: P2 rfn 

X-ray powder data (Mrose, 1952, p. 938) 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Beus, 1960, p. 111] 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Golovastikov, 1961] 

Golovastikov, 1961, using the unit-cell data of 

Wehrenberg, 1954, solved the crystal structure of beryllonite by three-dimensional Patterson techniques. Each 

Be04 tetrahedron shares corners with four P04 tetrahedra and likewise each P04 tetrahedron shares corners 

with four Be04 tetr~hedra. The Be04 and P04 tetrahedra link-up to form pseudohexagonal rings as shown 

in figure 6. The rings are joined to similar rings above 

and below through the sharing of six· apicai · oxygens, 

three of which point up and three of which point down. 

Within the rings are found channels running parallel 

to the b axis. The rings link together as shown in figure 

6 to form a continuous three-dimensional network. The 

sodium atoms lie within the channels. N a1 is found 

to be in ninefold coordination; N a2 and N a3 in octahedral coordination. 

The range of values for the various bond lengths were 

found to be as follows : 

Angstroms 

P-0----------------------------- 1. 48-1.56 Be-0 ______________________ - - - _ _ _ 1. 58-1. 66 

Nat-0---------------------------- 2. 51-2. 82 

Na2, Naa-0----------------------- 2. 22-2. 68 

Pseudocubic: 

BER YLLOSODALITE 

N a4BeA1Si40t2Cl 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Semenov and Bykova, 1960] 

a _______ ~8.7 A 

Dm------ 2.28 g/cm3 

Dz------ 2.36 g/cm3 (for Z=2 and V=658.5 A3) 

Anisotropic 

X-ray powder data given 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Semenov and Bykova, 1960} 

Weight 

percent Si02 

_______________________________ _ 

A1203-------------------------------

BeO Ga203------------------------------ _______________________________ _ CaO ______________________________ _ Na2

0 ______________________________ _ ]{20 _______________________________ _ II2o+ ______________________________ _ II2o-______________________________ _ Cl ________________________________ _ 

Less 0=Clf2 ____________________ ----

TotaL _____________________ - - -

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

50.45 

12. 56 

. 04 

5.30 

. 50 

23.26 . 40 

1. 50 

1. 51 

6. 04 

101. 56 

1. 40 

100. 16 

Theoretical 

51. 33 

10. 92 

-------- 5. 35 

--------- 26. 52 

---------

---------

--------- 7. 59 

101. 71 

1.71 

100. 00 

This mineral is probably isostructural with sodalite, 

Na4AlaSia012Cl, with (BeSi) replacing (2Al). In the 

well-known sodalite structure (Pauling, 1930), each 

oxygen atom is coordinated by one silicon, one aluminum, and one sodium atom. Each sodium atom is coordinated by three oxygens and one chlorine atom. The 

chlorine atoms are coordinated by four sodium atoms. 

The aluminum and silicon atoms are coordinated tetrahedrally by four oxygens. The aluminum and silicon· 

atoms are ordered. 

Semenov and Bykova state that the X-ray powder 

pattern cannot be indexed with a cubic unit cell. The 

deviation of beryllosodialite from cubic symmetry is 

perhaps due to the ordering of Be, AI, and Si, which 

requires lower symmetry than that of sodalite ( P43n) . 
8 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

FHHiRE 6.-The crystal structure of beryllonite, NaBePO,, showing the arrangement of the BeOt (stippled) and PO, (lined) tetrahedra. The sodium atoms are shown 

as circles. Reprinted from Golovastikov, 1961. 

If in this mineral we retain the P43n symmetry with 

one Be, Si, and AI atom statistically distributed in the 

six-fold aluminum position ( 6d), the bond strengths 

about each oxygen atom will vary between 134 and 214. 

This leads, probably, to an unstable structure. 

BITYITE 

(Ca,Na,K) (Al,Li, Mgh-a(Si,Al,Be)4010 (0Hh 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Strunz, 1956] 

Monoclinic: a ______ 4.98A v ___________ 809.1 A3 

b ______ 8.67 A 

C- - - - - - 18.7 4 A 

{j- - - - - - ~goo 

Dm---------- 3.07 g/cms z ___________ 4 

D~---------- 3.14 g/cma 

Probable space group: C2/c 

X-ray powder data given 

CHEMIC.AJ, COMPOSITION 

[Strunz, 1956. Numbers of ions on the basis of 10.00 oxygens and 2.00 OH] 

Si02-------------------- Be0 ________ . ___________ _ 

Fe0 Al203----------------~-- ___________________ _ MgO __________________ _ 

Li20 __________________ _ Na20 __________________ _ K20 ___________________ _ CaO __________________ _ H2o ___________________ _ 

lJ eight percent Ratios 

(1) (2) (1) 

31.95 33.37 214 

2. 27 7. 30 . 36 

41. 75 36. 24 1 .. 64 . 17 

. 04 

2. 39 

. 29 

. 04 

14. 42 

. 13 

2. 73 

. 40 

. 16 

14. 30 

6. 50 5. 72 

100. 19 99. 98 

. 01 

. 37 

. 02 

. 01 

1. 02 

1. 45 

(2) 

2. 17 

1. 14 

1. 39 

. 01 

. 31 

. 02 

1. 01 

1. 24 

(1) (Ca,Na,K) 1.os(Al,Li, Mg)ua(Si,Al,Be)40to(OHh 

(2) (Ca,Na) 1.os(Al,Li,Fe)2.72(Si,Al,Be)40Jo(0Hh 

In calculating the formulas from these analyses I 

assume tha.t ( 1) the tetrahedral positions are completely 

filled (4 atoms per formula unit); (2) all Si and Be 

atoms go into the tetrahedral positions; (3) the remaining vacancies in the tetrahedral positions are filled by 

aluminum; (4) the excess aluminum plus all lithium, 

iron, and magn~ium go into the octahedral positions; 

( 5) calcium, sodium, and potassium go into the interlayer sites; and ( 6) no water in the form of oxonium 

ions replaces the inter layer cations. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Bityite is a beryllium margarite. The beryllium replaces some of the aluminum and silicon in the tetrahedral sites. To balance the charges lithium goes into 

some of the vacant octahedral sites. 

BROMELLITE 

BeO 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Aminoff, 1925] 

Hexagonal: a ______ 2.68 kX Dm---------- 3.02 g/cm3 

C------ 4.36 kX z ___________ 2 

v _____ 27.12kX3 D~- _________ 3.04 g/cm3 

Space group: P6smc 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 9 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Aminoff, 1925] 

»eight 

percent 

Weight 

percent 

BeO________________ 9& 02 Sb20s--------------- . 29 

CaO.:.--------------- 1. 03 Al20s------~-------- . _14 BaO________________ . 55 Loss___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 85 

MgO _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 07 

MnO_______________ Tr. 100. 95 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Bromellite has the wurtzite structure. Pure synthetic bromellite gives Be-0 bond lengths of 1.655 and 1.64 7 

A, and 0-Be-0 bond angles of 109.0° and 110.0° (Jeffrey, Parry, and Mozzi, 1956). The unit-cell size of 

pure BeO is 

Angstroms 

a= 2.698 

c = 4.379 

CHKALOVITE 

Na2(BeSi206) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Pyatenko, Bokil, and Belov, 1956] 

Orthorhombic: a ______ 21.1 A 

b ______ 21.l~ A 

c ______ 6.87 A 

Space group: Fddd 

v ____________ 3059 As 

z- - - - ------- 24 

Dz---------- 2.66 g/cm3 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Beus, 1960, p. 38. Numbers of ions on the !:>asis of 6.00 oxygens] 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent Ratios 

Si02________ 56.81 1. 98 K20________ 0. 13 

AhOs------- H20+------

Fe20s------- . 30 H20-______ . 23 FeO _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 12 F _________ _ 

BeO________ 12. 67 1. 06 S03_________ • 22 

Cao________ . 37 

N a20 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 28. 93 0. 98 99. 78 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Pyatenko, BokiJ, and Belov, 1956] 

Chkalovite has the high cristobalite structure with 

beryllium substituting for one out of three silicon atoms 

in the Si02 framework. The sodium atoms occupy 

two-thirds of the large voids in the structure. A structure similar to this was predicted by Buerger (1954) 

for the compound N a2BeSi04 which represents the fully 

"stuffed" N a-Be derivative of cristobalite. The formulas of chkalovite and Na2BeSi04 expressed as dioxides are Na2;a(Bel;aSi2;a)02 and Na(Be1;2Si112)02, 

respectively. In chkalovite sodium possesses a somewhat irregular coordination, one sodium being in tenfold coordination, the other in elevenfold coordination. 

Ideally the sodium atom in an undistorted high cristohalite structure would have twelvefold coordination. 

The unit cell of chkalovite ( chk) is related to that of 

high cristo halite ( crist) by : 

acbk = bcbk~3acrist 

Obbk~acrist 

CHRYSOBERYL 

AbBe04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Bragg and Brown, 1926] 

Orthorhombic: a ______ 5.47 kX V _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 227.0 kXa 

b _______ 9.39 kX z ___________ 4 

c ______ 4.42 kX Dz ____ .;. _____ 3.69 g/cm3 

Space group: Pbnm 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Bragg and Brown, 11126] 

The oxygen atoms in this structure are approximately in positions of hexagonal close packing, with the two 

layers perpendicular to· ( 001) repeating every 4.42 kX. 

The beryllium and aluminum atoms fill, respectively, 

certain tetrahedral and octahedral holes. Figure 7 

shows the linked polyhedra of the two layers of the 

hexagonal close-packed repeat unit. The structure may 

be visualized by superimposing figure 7A on figure 7B. 

Chrysoberyl is isostructural with olivine and also 

with the compounds AlGaBe04, AlFeBe04, and. 

AlCrBe04 (Gjessing, Larsson, and Major, 1942). 

EPIDIDYMITE 

N aBeSia01 (OH) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Ito, 1934; see also Pobedimskaya and Belov, 1960] 

Orthorhombic: 

a ______ 12.63 kX 

b ______ 7.32 kX 

c ______ 13.58 kX 

Space ~roup: Pnam 

v ___________ 1255 kX3 

z- ----- ----- 8 

Dz---------- 2.58 g/cm3 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

Beus (1960, p. 37) gives seven chemical analyses of 

epididymite and its polymorph eudidymite. The composition of these minerals is close to the theoretical 

composition N aBeSi30 7 (OR). Minor amounts of 

aluminum and ferric iron appear to substitute for Be 

or Si. Also, minor amounts of Ca and Mg probably 

substitute for N a. Epididymite loses water at 700° to 

800° C indicating that hydroxyl groups are present in 

the structure. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Ito, 1934; Pobedimskaya and Belov, 1960] 

The structure proposed by Ito ( 1934) has been con-

. tradicted by Pobedimskaya and Belov ( 1960). The 
10 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

FIGURE 7.-The arrangement of tetrahedra and octahedra in (A) layer I of chryso- beryl, AlsBe04 and (B) layer II of chrysoberyl. 

atomic parameters proposed by Ito give unusually poor 

Be-0 and Si-0 bond lengths which led the Russian 

workers to reexamine the structure. The atomic parameters proposed by these workers give plausible bond 

lengths. Their structure cannot, however, be accepted 

at this time. The epididymite unit cell contains 56 

oxygen atoms and 8 ( OH) groups. Pobedimskaya and 

Belov list coordinates for 60 oxygen atoms and 8 (OH) 

groups. 

EUDIDYMITE 

N aBeSia07(0H) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Ito, 1lM7; see also Pobedtmskaya and Belov, 1961] 

Monoclinic: 

a ___________ 12.62 kX v __________ 1264 kX• 

b ___________ 7.37 kX Dm--------- 2.553 g/cm• c ___________ 13.99 kX z __________ 8 

p ___________ 103°43' Dz- -------- 2.561 g/cma 

Space group: C2/c 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[See the discussion of the chemistry of eptdtdymtte] 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Ito, 1947; Pobedtmskaya and Belov, 1961] 

Ito ( 194 7) has proposed a structure for this mineral. 

The bond distances are, however, so grossly in error that 

the structure cannot be considered correct. Pobedimskaya and Belov ( 1961), as they did with epididymite, 

proposed a structure with 60 oxygen atoms and 8 ( OH) 

groups in the unit cell. 

J!AHEYITE 

(Mn, Mg,N a) Be2Fe2

3+ (P04) 4.6H20 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Lindberg and Murata, 1953] 

Hexa~onal?: 

a ___________ 9.43 A I D,. _________ ,__ 2.660 g/cms 

c ___________ 16.00 A z ____________ 3 

V __________ 1232 A3 Dz----------- 2.670g/cms 

X-ray powder data given 

CHEM:ICAL COMPOSITION 

[Lindberg and Murata, 1953. Numbers of tons on the basts of 16.00 oxygens] 

P20o--- -----

Fe20s---- __ -

AI20a-------

BeO _______ _ 

MnO ______ _ 

MgO ______ _ 

Na20- _____ _ 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratioa percent Ratioa 

38. 11 1. 99 K20________ Tr. 

21. 42 . 99 F _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tr. 

. 10 . 01 H20________ 14.90 

7. 26 2. 15 InsoL _ _ _ ___ 9. 44 

5. 99 . 62 

1. 14 . 21 

. 84 . 10 

GELBERTRANDITE 

B~Si207(0H) 2.3H20? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Semenov, 1957] 

99. 20 

6. 11 

Dm=2.176 g/cm3 

X-ray powder data given 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Semenov, 1957. Numbers of ions on the basts of 7.00 oxygens and 2.00 OH) 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratioa percent Ratioa 

38. 70 1. 92 H20+------ 15. 62 } 3 93 1. 20 . 04 H20- _ _ _ _ _ _ 8. 17 · 

Si 02 _______ _ 

AlzOa---- - -- BeO ____ ---- 34. 16 4. 06 

Cao _______ _ 1. 93 100. 11 

(Na,K)20 __ _ . 33 

Beue(Si,Al) 2.oo07(0H) 2 (H20) 2 .u.s 

This mineral may be a poorly crystallized bertrandite 

(Fleischer, 1958). 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 11 

HAMBERGITE 

Be2(BOa) (OH) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Zachariasen, 1931b; Zacharlasen and Plettinger, 1958} 

Orthorhombic: a ______________________________ 9.755 ±0.002A 

b--------~--------------------- 12.201 ±0.002A c ______________________________ 4.426 ±0.001A 

v ______________________________ 526.79 A3 

z ______________________________ 8 

Dz--------------- -------------- 2.34 g/cm2 

Space group: Pbca 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Zacharlasen and Plettinger, 1958} 

The beryllium atoms are coordinated tetrahedrally 

by three oxygen atoms and one (OH) group. Each 

oxygen atom of the Be03 ( OH) tetrahedra is shared 

with another Be03 (0H) group and a BOa triangle. 

The ( OH) group is shared between two BeOa ( OH) 

tetrahedra. The boron atoms ar:e in triangular coordination by three oxygens at distances of 1.33+0.02 A. 

Each of these oxygens is also shared with two 

Be03 ( OH) tetrahedra. The triangles lie in a plane 

parallel to the c-axis. Figure 8 shows a portion of the 

hambergite structure projected on (001). The Be.Oa 

(OH) groups are shown as shaded polyhedra in this 

figure. As can be seen the structure is a three-dim ensional one formed by the linking of tetrahedra in infinite spirals parallel to c. There appears to be a hydrogen bond of 2.89 A between the ( OH) groups 

(shown as dashed lines in fig. 8). 

Zachariasen found Be-0 bond lengths of L655, 1.639, 

1.657, 1.636, 1.663, and 1.667 A. Be-(OH) lengths of 

1.637 and 1.645 A were observed. The average Be-0 

( OH) lengths is 1.650 A. 

HARSTIGITE 

(Ca,Mn,Mg)7Be,Sie(O,OH,F)2a-24? 

Orthorhombic 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Flink, 1917] 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Flink, 1917. Numbers of ions on the basis of 81=6.00) 

(1) (2) 

Weight Weight 

percent RatiO& percent 

Si02-·---------------------- Be0 39.92 6.00 40. 70 _______________________ _ 11.57 4. 18 11. 40 Feo _______________________ _ Tr. Tr. 

MnO--~-------------------- 7.07 . 90 7. 03 

~ag~~====================== . 94 . 21 

37. 78 6.08 . 93 

H 37.86 

2

0 _______________________ _ 2. 48 . 13 F _________________________ _ . 15 

99. 76 97.44 . 06 

' Less 0 = F /2-----------------

TotaL________________ 97.38 

(1) (Ca,Mn,Mgh.IoBe,.JsSie.oo(O,OH,F)2No 

(2) (Ca,Mn,Mg)r.,sBe,.,oSio.oo(O,OH,F)u.a6 

RatiO& 

6.00 

4. 10 

. 89 

. 21 

6.08 

. 07 

HELVITE 

Mn.BeaSia012'S" 

DANALITE 

Fe,BeaSiaO 12· S 

GENTHELVITE 

Zn.BeaSiaO u· S 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Glass, Jahns, and Stevens, 1944; Pauling, 1930} 

Extrapolated X-ray data for the Mn, Fe, and Zn end 

members are given as follows: 

a v D 

(kX) (kXB) z (g/cmB) 

Helvite ______ ----- 8.27 565.6 2 3. 20 

Danalite _________ - 8. 18 547. 3 2 3. 35 

Genthelvite _______ 8. 10 531. 4 2 3. 70 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Glass and others 1944; Beus, 1960} 

Space group 

(cubic) 

P43n 

P43n (probable) 

P43n (probable) 

Helvite, danalite, and genthelvite are names designating the manganese, iron, and zinc end memb~rs, resp.ectively. There is apparently a complete sohd solutiOn 

formed between these end members. Inspection of the 

chemical analyses given by Beus ( 1960, p. 43) indicates 

that some aluminum substitutes for beryllium with a 

concomitant substitution of N a for Mn, Fe, or Zn. A 

limited solid solution towards the (Ra2

+Na) (Be2Al) 

Si30 12 ·S end.member may thus exist. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Pauling, 1930) 

Helvite has the sodalite (Na4AlaSia012Cl) stl"Ucture 

with Mn replacing sodium, Be replacing AI, and S replacing Cl. Helvite, by analogy to sodalite, possesses 

a framework structure with each Si04 tetrahedron sharing corners with four Be04 tetrahedra and with e~ch 

Be04 tetrahedron similarly sharing all corners with 

Si04 tetrahedra. The two types of tetrahedra link into 

a three-dimensional network in which there appear 

large cages. In these cages, composed of 24 te~rah~dr.a, 

lie the sulfur atoms. In helvite the Mn atoms he within 

six-sided orifices and according to Pauling are coordinated by one sulfur and three oxygen atoms in a tetrahedral arrangement. The electrostatic valence rule 

is satisfied. The bond strength from Si, Be, and Mn 

is 1 v2 and 1;2, respectively. Each oxygen atom is in ' ~~ ' . contact with one Si, one Be, and one Mn atom to giVe 

a charge balance of two. Each sulfur atom is in contact 

with four Mn atoms to give a charge balance of two . 

Danalite and genthelvite are isostructural with helvite. 
12 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

o--. 

a 

Triangle 

FIGURE 8.-The crystal structure ofhambergite, Be2(B0a)(OH). The Be03(0H) tetrahedra Hnk to form spirals parallel to the c=axis. 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 13 

HERDERITE 

CaBeP04(F,OH) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Pavlov and Belov, 1960] 

Monoclinic: a __________ 9.80 A v ____________ 361.3 A3 

b __________ 7.68 A Dm---------- 3.00 g/cm3 

c __________ 4.80 A z ____________ 4 

~---------- 90°6' Dre----------- 2.98 g/cm3 

Space group: P2t/a 

X-ray powder data (Mrose, 1952, p. 938) 

CHEMICAJ .. COMPOSITION 

There is apparently a complete solid solution between herderite, CaBeP04F, and hydroxyl-herderite, 

CaBeP04(0H). 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Pavlov and Belov, 1960] 

The herderite structure consists of infinite sheets of 

linked Po4 and Be03F tetrahedra. Each BeOaF tetrahedron shares three oxygens with three adjacent P04 

tetrahedra. The P04 tetrahedra share three corners 

with three adjacent Be03F tetrahedra. Between the 

(BeP04F)n2 n- sheets lie the calcium atoms. These 

atoms are coordinated by six oxygen atoms and two 

fluorine atoms; F, 01, 02, and 0 3 of one sheet and by F, 

Ot, Oa, and 04 of the second sheet. The structure of the 

sheets is shown in figure 9. The arrangement of the 

calcium polyhedra is shown in figure 10. 

FIGURE 9.-Herderite, CaBePOt(F,OH), showing the structure of the infinite 

(BePOtF)n2n- sheets. Dashed lines denote the calcium-oxygen (fluorine) bonds. 

The POt tetrahedra have their 4 axes approximately perpendicular to the a-b 

plane; the Be OaF tetrahedra have their threefold axes approximately perpendicular 

to the a-b plane. 

695-379 Q-64--3 

FIGURE 10.-Herderite, CaBePOt(F,OH), showing the arrangement of the calcium 

polyhedra. ReprintedTrom Pavlov and Belov, 1960. 

The bond lengths are given as follows: 

P-01- _ -- - - - - - - - - -

P-02-------------

P-Oa------------ _ P-O, ______ -------

Be-02------- ___ - _ 

Be-Oa- ___ - _----- _ 

Be-04----------- _ 

Angstroms 

1. 51 

1. 52 

1. 57 

1. 51 

1. 64 

1. 55 

1. 67 

Be-F ____________ _ 

Ca-01----- ____ ---

Ca-02-- _---------

Ca-Oa-------- _---

Ca-04------------ Ca-F ___________ _ 

Angstroms 

1. 67 

2. 40,2.40 

2.44 

2. 61, 2. 70 

2.44 

2. 71, 2. 58 

Herderite is isostructural with datolite, 

CaBSi04(0H) (Ito and Mori, 1953). In datolite 

Be2+P5+ is replaced by B3+Si4+. Herderite is also structurally related to gadolinite, Fe%YBeSi04.0, which 

will be described next. 

GADOLINITE 

Fe~YBeSi04.0 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Ito and Mori, 1953; Pavlov and Belov~ 1960] 

Monoclinic: 

a ____ 9.89±0.01 A ~---------- 90°33' 

b ____ 7.52±0.01 A y __________ 350.3 A3 

c ____ 4.71±0.01 A z __________ 4 

Space group: P2tfa 

CHEMICAL COMPOSmON 

Gadolinite is a complex rare earth silicate; it is often 

in the metamict state owing to the presence of radioactive thorium and uranium in the structure. Fe2

+, Be, 
14 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

and Si are apparently essential constituents although 

small amounts of Fe3+, AI, and Mn2+ may substitute for 

these ions. Yttrium and the yttrium earths are usually 

present to the extent of 22 to 46 percent by weight 

(Dana, 1892, p. 511). Other elements including the 

cerium earths, thorium, uranium, calcium, magnesium, 

sodium, and potassium may substitute for yttrium and 

the yttrium earths. Nakai (1938) reports a calciumlanthanum gadolinite containing 11.93 percent Ga (see 

also Beus, 1960, p. 59). 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Ito and Mort, 1953; Pavlov and Belov, 1960] 

The formula of gadolinite is derived from that of 

herderite, CaBeP04F, by replacing Ca with Y3+, P04 

with Si04 and F with 0 2- to give the radical 

(YBeSi04.0) -. Fe2+ is placed in the special positions 

2a (000,!!0) of space group P2t/a which are unoccupied 

in the herderite structure. The other atoms are in the 

general positions ( 4e) so that we have one Fe atom for 

every two Y, Be, and Si atoms. The formula can thus 

be written Fe% YBeSi04.0. The iron atoms occupy a 

position within the rings of six Y08 polyhedra as shown 

in figure 11. 

HSIANGUALITE 

LhCaaBea(Si04)aF'l 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Huang, Tu, Wang, Chao, and Yu, 1958; Fleischer, 1959; Beus, 1960, p. 60-61] 

Cubic: 

a _______ ----- _________________ 12.879±0.004 A 

v _____________________________ 2136 Aa 

Dm-------------------------- _ 2.97-3.00 gfcm3 

z _____________________________ 8 

Dz---- ________________________ 2.95 g/cma 

Space group: 14132 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Huang and others, 1958; Beus, 1960, p. 60-61. Numbers of ions on the basis of 12.00 

oxygens and 2.00 F] 

Si02---- _ -- _________________ _ Cao ______________________ _ BeO _______________________ _ 

LhO- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - __ AhOa--------- ____ -- _______ _ 

Fe20a----------------------

~g0 ______________________ _ l'ra20 ______________________ _ ]{aO _______________________ _ 

F _________________________ _ Loss ______________________ _ 

Less 0 = F I 2-- - - -- -- - -- -- ----

TotaL _______________ _ 

Weight 

percent 

35.66 

34. 60 

15. 78 

5. 85 

. 50 

. 22 

. 18 

. 13 

. 06 

7. 81 

1. 28 

102. 07 

3. 29 

98. 78 

(1) 

Ratios 

2. 93 

3. 05 

3. 12 

. 97 

2. 03 

(2) 

Weight 

percent Ratios 

36.6-1: 2. 95 

35. 18 3. 01: 

16. 30 3. 16 

5. 60 . 90 

. 06 

. 17 

. 03 

. 03 

7. 27 1. 85 

101. 28 

3. 06 

98.22 

FIGURE 11.-Gadolinite, FethYBeSi04.0, showing the arrangement of the YOs and 

FeO& polyhedra. Reprinted from Pavlov and Belov, 1960. 

HURLBUTITE 

CaBe2 (P04) 2 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Bakakin and Belov, 1960] 

~onoclinic: I a ______ 8.29 A 

b ______ 8.80 A 

c ______ 7.81 A 

(:J ______ ~goo 

Space group: P2tfa 

v _____ 569.8 A3 

z ______ 4 

Dz---- 2.89 g/cm3 

X-ray powder data (~rose, 1952, p. 937-938) 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Hurlbutite is isostructural with danhurite, 

CaB2 ( Si04h (Dunbar and Machatschki, 1931; Bakakin, 

Krauchenko, and Belov, 1959; Bakakin and Belov, 

1960). The hurlbutite structure is also related to that 

of the feldspars. Compare the hurlbutite structure (fig~ 

12) with that of sanidine (Eitel, 1958, fig. 56, p. 85). 

For convenience of presentation a sheet of the composition (BeP05 ) nan- is isolated from the three-dimensional structure and is shown in figure 12. This sheet is 

connected above and below through sharing of apical 

oxygens to two nearly identical (BePOs)nan- sheets. 

Each Be04 tetrahedron is linked by sharing corners to 

four P04 tetrahedra. Likewise, each P04 tetrahedron 

is linked to four Be04 tetrahedra. The phosphorus and 

beryllium atoms in adjacent sheets are interchanged so 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 15 

a 

'---------~ b Oca 

• Be 

0 p 

0 

0 

FIGURE 12.-The hurlbutite, CaBe,(POth, structure showing the arrangement of the infinite (BePO&) .. an- sheets. 

that only beryllium atoms are adjacent to phosphorus 

atoms. The calcium atoms lie between the (BeP05 )nsnsheets and are in sevenfold coordination. The Ca-0 

bonds are shown as dashed lines in figure 12. 

In danburite, the Si04 and B04 tetrahedra link up in 

much the same manne.r as in hurlbutite. In danburite, 

however, each Si04 tetrahedron is linked to three B04 

tetrahedra and one Si04 tetrahedron. Ea.ch B04 tetrahedron is linked to three Si04 tetrahedra and one B04 

tetrahedron. The two different distributions of tetrahedrally coordinated cations in hurlbutite and danburite are necessary in order to balance charges on the 

oxygen atoms. The charge distribution on the oxygen 

atoms is given in table 3. Although danburite is orthorhombic, it has a unit cell similar in size and shape to that 

of hurlbutite (a=8.01A, b=8.75A, and o=7.71A). The 

calcium atom in danburite is also in sevenfold coordination. 

TABLE 3.-Charge distribution on the oxygen atoms in hurlbutite 

and danburite 

HURLBUTITE 

( 4) 0 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 036 

(4) 02------- 2. 036 

( 4) 0 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 036 

(4) 04------- 2. 036 

( 4) 05- - ----- 2. 036 

(4) 06------- 2. 036 

(4) 07------- 1. 750 (4) 0 8 _______ 2. 036 

DANBURITE 

(8) Ot- ______ 2. 036 

(8) 02------- 2. 036 

(8) Oa_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 036 

( 4) 04- ------ 2. 000 

(4) 05------- 1. 784 

TABLE 4.-Bond lengths in the hurlbutite structure 

Angstroms 

Pt-Ot-------- 1. 60 

P1-0a- _-- _ _ _ _ 1. 58 

Pt-05- _------ 1. 56 

Pt-Os-------- 1. 59 

P2-02-------- 1. 55 

P2-04-------- 1. 57 

P2-06- _-- __ - - 1. 56 

P2-~-------- 1. 58 

Bet-Ot------- 1. 57 

Bet-Oa--- __ -- 1. 59 

Bet-Os------- 1. 59 Bet-07----~-- · 1. 59 

Angstroms 

B~-02 _- ___ - - 1. 60 

Be2-04-- ____ - 1. 58 

Ber06------- 1. 59 

BerOs------- 1. 61 Ca-Ot _____ - _ 2. 52 

Ca-02 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 49 

Ca-Oa _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 46 

Ca-04 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 42 

Ca-05 ____ - - _ 2. 43 

Ca-06_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 46 

Ca-07 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 4 7 
16 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

Table 4 gives the bond lengths found in hurlbutite by 

(Bakakin and Belov, 1960). The a.verage phosphorusphosphate oxygen distance is 1.57 A. The average be.ryllium-beryllium oxygen distance is 1.59A. It appears 

that this structure needs further refinement for we 

should expect the average P-0 and Be-0 bond distances to be 1.52 and 1.64A respectively. 

KARPINSKYITE 

Na2(Be,Zn,Mg)AbSi60t6(0H)2? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

(Shilin, 1956] 

Trigonal: Dm--------- 2.545 g/cm3 a _____ 14.24 A 

c _____ 4.83 A 

v ____ 848.2 As 

Diffraction symbol: P . .. X-ray powder data given 

z __________ 6 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

(Shllln, 1956. Numbers of ions on the basis of 16.00 oxygens and 2.00 OH] 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent Ratios Si02- _______ 56.68 5. 94 N a20 _______ 9. 18} Al20s-- _____ 1. 04 16. 40} K20-------- 1. 55 

Fe20a------- . 06 1. 02 H20+- ----- 5.00 1. 75 BeO ________ 2. 58 . 65 H20- ------ 2. 50 . 87 ZnO ________ 3. 26 . 25 MgO _______ . 78 . 12 97.99 

(N a,K) 2.os(Be,Zn,Mg) 1.o2(Al,Fe) 2.04Sis.940t6(0H) 2 

FIGURE 13.-Melilite (Ca2MgSi207). The Mg04 tetrahedra are located at 0,0 and ~. ~2 along the x and y (at and a2) axes. About the Mg04 tetrahedra are arranged four Si207 groups. The calcium atoms are depicted by circles. 

GUGIAITE 

Ca2BeSi201 

LEUCOPHANITE 

(Ca,Na) 2Be(Si,Al)2(0,0H,Fh 

MELIPHANITE 

(Ca,N a) 2Be(Si,Al) 2(0,0H,Fh 

Table 5.-Crystallography of gugiaite, leucophanite, meliphanite, and the related minerals melilite and hardystonite 

(1) 

Gugiaite, tetragonal 

L:: :::: === :::=:= = :::::::1:: _________________ ~~~~~~~~:-

CV=-----~~~~--~~~~~~~~~~~~~_-_fa:= 5. o44±gg~~ z _______ --------------------- 2 

Space group_---------------- P421m Pseudocell: a ___________________ __ A _____________________________ _ c _____________________ A _____________________________ _ 

Reference________________ Peng and others, 1962 

Chemical composition 2______ See analysis (8) 

(2) 

Leucophanite, 

orthorhombic 1 

7. 40±0.02 

7.40±0.02 

10.0±0.02 548 4 

7.39 

5.0 

Zachariasen, 1930, 1931a 

See analysis (4) 

1 Unit cell edges have been converted from kXunits to angstrom units. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Zachariasen ( 1930, 1931a) has shown that there is a 

close structural relationship between leucophanite, 

meliphanite, and the melilites. Peng and others {1962) 

demonstrated that gugiaite is a beryllium melilite. 

Before discussing the structure of leucophanite, meliphanite, and gugiaite it will be useful to first consider the 

structure of the melilites. 

Warren (1930) found the structure of a melilite, of 

(3) 

Meliphanite, tetragonal' 

10.62±0.02 

9. 92±0.02 

1119 

8 

(4) 

Melilite, tetragonal 

7. 789±0. 005 

5. 018±0. 005 304.4 2 

P42tm 

(5) 

Hardystonite, tetragonal 1 

7.87 

5. 01 

310 2 

P42tm 

7. 50 ---------------------------- ----------------------------

Zachariasen, 193o, 1:a~~ --------siD.iiii~-i95a:i954--- ·w-a:iren-an<i--rfraut-z~-~930 See analysis (5) From Smith, 1953 From Palache, 1935, p. 94 

t For analyses see table 6. 

the composition ( Ca,N a) 2 ( Mg,Al) ( Si,Al) 201, to consist 

of sheets composed of Si207 groups linked to Mg04 

tetrahedra through the sharing of the oxygen atoms. 

Figure 13 shows a sheet of this type projected on ( 001). 

These sheets, of the ideal composition (MgSi201) n 

4

n-, 

are held together by calcium and sodium atoms. The 

calcium (and sodium) polyhedra are in the form of 

square Archimedean antiprisms and are shown in 

figure 14. 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 

Smith (1953) has accurately determined the structure 

of a melilite of the composition 

Cat.6sN a.2oK.ooMg .• 6Al.4tSit.s6FeH.4207. 

He finds that sodium and potassium may substitute for 

calcium; Mn2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, and AI for Mg; and AI and 

FeS+ for Si. 

A review of the papers discussing the melilite minerai group, for exam pie, Berman ( 1929), Goldsmith 

(1948), Andrews (1948), Smith (1953), and Neuvonen 

( 1955), gives a fairly good picture of the cationic substitution found in these minerals. We may give the 

following general formula for the melilites: 

17 

where small amounts of K may substitute for Na, small 

amounts of MnO and FeO for MgO, and moderate 

amounts of Fe20s for Al203 • From the analyses given 

by Berman ( 1929) we find that as much as 0.52 atom of 

N a may substitute for Ca, up to 1.00 atom of AI may 

substitute for Mg, and as much as 0.78 atom of AI may 

substitute for Si. The theoretical end· members in this 

mineral group are gehlenite, Ca2Al2Si07 , and akermanite, Ca2MgSi201. Hardystonite, Ca2ZnSi201, is the 

rare zinc-containing end member ( Pala.che, 1935, p. 94). 

FIGURE 14.-The arrangement of the CaOa polyhedra in melilite, Ca2MgSi207 

We have already compared the unit cell dimensions 

of melilite and hardystonite to those of leucophanite, 

meliphanite, and gugiaite. We see that the minerals of 

the leucophanite group have unit cells or pseudo-unit 

cells similar in size to those of the melilites. 

Leucophanite, meliphanite, and gugiaite may be considered to be calcimum-sodium beryllium melilites. 

Some aluminium replaces silicon and some fluorine and 

(or) chlorine replaces oxygen in the structure. The 

H 20 reported in the analyses probably occurs as (OH) 

groups substituting for oxygen. If we examine figure 

13 we see that four of the 14 oxygen atoms within the 

unit cell are not shared between two tetrahedra. It is 

TABLE 6.-Chemical composition of gugiaite, leucophanite, and meliphanite 

(Samples 1-6, Dana, 1892, p, 418; 7, Semenov, 1957; 8, Peng and others, 1962. Numbers of ions on the basis of O+F+OH=7.00] 

2 3 4 5 6 8 ', 

Weight Weight Weight Weight Weight Weight Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios percent Ratios 

_______ .:._ __ 1------------------------------------

8102------------------------------ 47.82 1. 96 47.03 1. 96 48.38 1. 98 48.50 1. 98 43.60 1. 82 43.66 1. 84 45.98 1. 85 44.90 

!1:8:::::=====:::::::::::=:::::::: :::::::: :::::::: --Too- ----~02- -------- -------- ----:45- ----.-oi- ---4~6i- ----~i2- ---i~57- ----:04- 2: ~ · 06 { 2: g BeO------------------------------ 11.51 1. 13 10. 70 1. 07 --ii~97- ---i~i7- 10.03 . 98 9. so . 99 11. 74 1.19 11.52 1.11 9. 49 cao______________________________ 25. oo 1.10 23.37 1. 04 23.37 1. 02 22.94 1. oo 29.56 1. 33 26.74 1. 21 23.65 1. 02 40.09 

Na,o_____________________________ 10.20 . 40 11.26 . 45 10.27 . 40 12.42 . 49 7. 98 . 33 8. 55 . 35 10.79 . 42 . 72 

flii_i!~~~~~~~~~~;;~~~~~~~~~~~ iii~;;: ;;::i~i ~~:~~i- ----ii- iii·iii iiiiii; }::~:~: :::::~: {~~·~~~ ~~~:!:0_ i;_;~; ;_:::~; ;;-?:~: ;;_;:~- { T• ~ 

1. 91 

.05 

.97 

1. 82 

.03 

.01 

.02 

-----~03 

.13 

.01 

Less O =F+Cl/2 ___ -------------- 10~: rs :::::::: log:: :::::::: 10~: gg :::::::: 10~: ~ :::::::: 10~: ~~ :::::::: ~: ~ :::::::: 1~: ~~ :::::::: 99: ~~ :::::::: 

99.44 -------- 97.77 -------- 98.21 -------- 99.13 -------- 99.08 -------- 97.40 -------- 100.40 -------- 99. 79 --------

FORMULAS OF SAMPLES 

1. (Ca,Na,K)t.P2(Be,Mn)t.!7Sh.ge06.toF.ao 2. (Ca,Na,K)!.96(Be,Mg)l.oa(Si,}l)2.oo06.uF.SG 

3. (Ca,Na,K)u,Be!.l7Sius0e.u1'·.87 

4. (Ca,Na)1.98(Be,Mg) .H(Si,Al)uoOut(F,OH)!.Oe 

5. (Ca,Na)!.99(Be,Mg)!.oo(Si,Al)2.0606.2sF.72 6. (Ca,Na,K)l.gg(Be,Mg)uo(Si,Al)l.vJOue(F ,OH) .84 

7. (Ca,Na,K)!.ss(Be,Mg)l.u(Si,Al,Fe)l.v706.90(F,OH)!.u 8. (Ca,Na,K)l.eo(Be,Mg).ev(Si,Al)2.0!06.7o(F,Cl,OH).ao 
18 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

these oxygen atoms that are probably replaced by F, 

Cl, and (OH). 

Examination of the chemical compositions of various 

minerals belonging to the ]eucophanite group given 

previously suggests the following general chemical 

formula: 

where 

O~(x+y)~2. 

Small amounts of K substitute for N a, and Mg and Mn 

for Be. The substitution of ( OH) groups for oxygen 

atoms in the melilites has been postulated by Goldsmith 

( 1948). Smith ( 1953, 1954) also discussed this but did 

not consider the mechanism important. 

The names leucophanite, meliphanite, and gugiaite 

are synonymous. The mineral aminoffite is probably 

a member of the leucophanite group, perhaps having 

a formula similar to that of gugiaite. 

A synthetic beryllium melilite ( Ca2BeSi20 7 ) close 

to gugiaite in composition, has been reported by Goria 

(1958-54). The compound is tetragonal with a=7.501 

A and c=4.931 A (Z=2). The probable space group 

is P421m. The synthetic compound N a 2LiBe2F 7, reported by O'D~niel and Tscheischwili (1948) is tetragonal with a=7.5 A and c=5.03 A (Z=2). From a 

comparison of X-ray powder patterns Na2LiBe2F 7 was 

found to be isostructural with the me1ilites. Here N a 

plays the role of calcium, Li that of Mg, Be that of Si, 

and F that of oxygen. 

MILA.RITE 

KCa2(Be2Al) (Siu030).~ H 20 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

fBelov and Tarkhova (1951)] 

Hexagonal: 

a ____________ 10.43 A Dm---------- 2.57 g/cms c ____________ 13.85 A z ___________ 2 

v ___________ 1304 A3 Dx----------- 2.52 g/cms. 

Space group: P6/mcc 

[Ito, Morimoto, and Sadanaga (1952)] 

Hexagonal: 

a ____________ 10.54 A Dm---------- 2.55 g/cm3 c ____________ 13.96 A z ___________ 2 

v ___________ 1343 Aa Dr----------- 2.45 g/cm3 

Space group: P6/mcc 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Palacbe, 1931. Numbers of ions on the basts of 30.00 oxygens] 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent 

71. 66 11. 93 N a 20 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 0. 46 

4. 68 . 46 H20+------ 1. 02 

5. 24 2. 10 H 20- _ _ _ _ _ _ . 05 

11. 70 2. 09 

4. 91 . 52 

Si02--------

Ah0a--- ___ _ BeO _______ _ CaO _______ _ K20- ______ _ 99. 72 

Ratios 

0.07 

. 57 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Belov and Tarkhova, 1951; Ito, Morimoto, and Sadanaga, 1952] 

The milarite structure is composed of double hexagonal rings of the composition ( Si120 30 ) • These rings 

are shown in figure 15 and 16. The rings are joined toll( a=10,43 A =:;;o 1 

I I 

FIGURE 15.-The crystal structure of milarite, KCa2(Be2Al)(Si120ao) .!hH20 pro- jected on (10IO). The double SinOaon- rings are shown linked together by Beo. 

and AlO« tetrahetlra and by CaO& octahedra. Solid circles represent the calcium atoms. Reprinted fron Belov and Tarkhova, 1951. 

FIGURE 16.-The crystal structure of mllartte, KCa2(Be2Al)(Sh20aoL!hH20 prrr jected on (0001). The Sit20ao12- groups are shown linked together by (Be,Al)O« 

tetrahedra and CaO& octahedra. The circles represent potassium atoms lying between the SiuOaolz- groups. Reprinted from Belov and Ta.rkhova, 1951. 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 19 

c 

A B 

FIGURE 17.-Comparison of the beryl structure (A) with the milarite structure (B), reprinted from Belov and Tarkhova, 1951. 

gether into a three-dimensional network by Be04 and 

Al04 tetrahedra. The Be and AI atoms appe9,r to substitute randomly for one another. This structure bears 

some resemblance to beryl, Al2Be3Si601s, in which single hexagonal rings of the composition ( Si601s) are 

linked into a three-dimensional structure by Be04 tetrahedra and Al06 octahedra. Figure 17 compares the 

milarite and beryl structures. 

In milarite the calcium atoms are in octahedral coordination surrounded by six oxygen atoms, one from 

each of six neighboring rings. The potassium atoms 

lie on the sixfold axis between the double· (Si120ao) 

rings (fig. 16). These atoms have twelvefold coordination and lie in positions similar to the K+ position in 

the micas. The water molecules appear to lie within the 

cages formed by the double rings. 

The bond lengths as determined by Belov and Tarkhova (1951), and Ito, and others (1952) are given In 

table 7. 

TABLE 7.-Bond lengths in milarite 

BELOV AND TARKHOVA, 1951 

Angltrom~ 

Si-01 _______ 1. 60 

Si-02-- _ _ _ _ _ 1. 60, 1. 59 

Si-Oa------- 1. 61 

(4) Be(Al)-0 ___ 1. 65 

(6) Ca-Oa------ 2. 42 

(12) K-02------- 3. 04 

ITO, MORIMOTO, AND SADANAGA, 

1962 

Angnroms 

Si-01 _______ 1. 64 

Si-02------- 1. 59 

Si-Oa------- 1. 63 

(4) Be(Al)-0 ___ 1. 75 

(6) Ca-Oa------ 2. 35 

(12) K-02------- 3. 14 

MORAESITE 

Be2(P04)(0H). 4H20 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Lindberg, Pecora, and Barbosa, 1953] 

Monoclinic: 

a ____ 8.55±0.04A 

b ____ 36.90±0.18 A 

C---- 7,13±0.04A 

(3 ____ 97°41' 

Space group: C2jc or Cc 

X-ray powder data given 

V ___ 2229 Aa 

Dm- _ 1.805 g/cma 

z ___ 12 

Dz __ 1.806 g/cma 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Lindberg and others 1953. Numbers of ions on the basis of 4.00 oxygens and 1.00 OH) 

Weight Weight 

percent Ratios percent Ratioo 

P20 5 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 34. 76 0. 49 InsoL __ ----- 0. 30 

BeO_________ 25.28 2. 03 --- Fe203_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 11 _ _ _ _ _ _ 100. 25 

H 20 _____ - _- _ 39. 80 4. 45 

Monoclinic: 

Be2.oa(P0t) .lls(OH) (H20h.9s 

BEARSITE 

Be2(As04)(0H). 4H20? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

Kopchenova and Sidorenko, 1962] 

a _________ 8.55±0.02 A 

b _________ 36.90±0.02 A 

c __________ 7.13±0.02 A 

(3 _________ 97°49'±30' 

v _________ 2229 A3 

Dm-------- >L8<2.0 g/cm3 

z _________ 12 

Dz-------- 2.20 g/cma (unit-cell constants determined from X-ray powder data) 

X-ray powder data given 
20 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

CHEMTCAL COMPOSITION 

[Kopchenova and Sidorenko, 1962] 

Theoretical 

Weight composition 

Theoretical 

Weight composition 

percent bearsite percent bearsite 

BeO _________ l6. 75 20.35 Si02 _________ 1. 64 

Al20a __ - - - - - _ 6. 06 As20s ________ > 25, 5 46. 72 

Fe20a- _- ---- - 1..08 H 2Q _________ >29. 0 32. 93 

CaO _________ 1. 40 

MgO _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 61 100.00 

The close similarity of the X-ray powder patterns led _Kopchenova and Sidorenko to propose that 

bearsite Is the arsenate analogue of moraesite, 

Be2 (P0 4 ) (OH).4H20. Further work is needed to 

verify the unit cell and chemical composition of bearsite. 

PHENAKITE 

B~Si04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Bragg and Zachariasen, 1929] 

Rhombohedral: a ________ 7.68kX z ___________ 6 

a ________ 108°01' Dz---------- 2.99g/cm3 

v _______ 367.5kxs 

Space group: R3 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Dana, 1892, p. 463] 

Unessential amounts of Al20a, Fe20a, N a.20, CaO, and 

MgO are present in the chemica] analyses of phenakite. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Bragg and Zachariasen, 1929] 

The beryllium and silicon atoms are in tetrahedral 

coordination. The Si04 tetrahedra share each of all 

four corners with two Be04 tetrahedra.. The Be04 

tetrahedra share each corner with one Si04 tetrahedron 

and one Be04 tetrahedron. The two types of tetrahedra 

link to form a complex three-dimensional network. The 

Be-0 distance in phenakite is 1.65 A; the Si-0 distance 

is 1.62 A. 

Cubic: 

RHODIZITE 

N aKLi4Al4BesB10027? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Strunz, 1943] 

a __ 7.303±0.025 kX I 

F __ 390 kXa 

z __ 1 

Dx- 3.25 g/cm3 

Space group:P43m 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Palache, Berman and Fronde!, 1951, p. 330] 

(1) 

Weight 

(2) 

Weight 

percent percent 

(3) 

Weight 

percent 

Li 20 _------------------------ Na20-------------------------

]{20--------------------------

7. 81 7. 30 0. 68 

4. 05 3. 30 1. 78 

1. 41 

2.29 

3.47 

Rb 20 ________________________ _ 6. 16 5. 90 

Cs20-------------------------

Ah0s------------------------- 26. 65 30. 50 27.40 

14.93 

[43. 33] 

1. 71 

BeO _________________________ _ 9. 81 10. 10 

B20s------------------------- 45. 52 40. 60 Rem ________________________ _ 1. 81 

100.00 

Dm---- --------------- _gfcm3 __ 

99. 51 

3. 305 

[100. 00] 

3. 344 

1. NaKLi4Al4BeaBto027. 2. Antandrokomby, Madagascar. 3. Sahatany Valley, Madagascar. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Strunz, 1943] 

Strunz gives a partial description of the structure. 

The structure cannot be considered solved on tire basis 

of this work alone. 

ROSCHERITE 

(Ca, Mn,Fe) sBes(PO.) s(OH) s.2H20 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Lindberg, 1958] 

a _________________________________ A __ 

b ____ ___ -------------- ____________ A __ c ___________________ -~ ____________ A __ 

fJ_ ------------------------------------

V _____ ------------------------ __ A a __ 

Dm------------------------ ___ gfcma--

z _____ ------------------------------- Dz-~- _ --- __ ------------ ______ gfcmB __ 

~~~; ~:Ser'daia-iiven:-----------

(1) 

15.95±0.06 

11.95±0.04 

6.62±0.04 

94°30'±15' 1257 

2.934 4 

2.93 

C2/c 

(2) 

15.88±0.04 

11.90±0.03 

6.66±0.03 

94°30'±15' 

1254 

2.916 4 

2.90 

C2/c 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

(3) 

15.89±0.04 

11.90±0.03 

6.59±0.03 

94°50' (assumed) 1242 

2. 936 

4 2.94 

C2/c 

[Lindberg, 1958. Numbers of ions on the basis of 12.00 oxygens and 3.00 OH] 

Weight-percent Ratios 

(1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3) cao _________ • _______________ 7.60 11.48 10.11 0. 75 1.13 1.00 MnO __ ---- __________________ 10.04 14.47 8.66 . 78 1.13 .68 

FeO --- ___ ------------------- 6.26 10.13 16.49 .48 . 75 ' 1. 27 

Fe20s------------------------ 13.36 .90 .46 --a:04 .03 

BeO ___ ---------------------- 12.58 13.74 13.01 2. 78 2.89 

P205------------------------- 37.60 38.01 38.74 1. 46 1.48 1. 51 

H20 ------------------------- 11.56 12.17 12.09 3.55 3. 74 3. 72 

InsoL ----------------------- .80 

99.80 100.00 100.00 

(1) (Ca,Mn,Fe2+,Fe3+)2.93Be2.7SP2.920u(OH)a(Ht0)2.o5, Sapucaia pegmatite mine, 

Minas Gerais, Brazil. 

(2) (Ca,Mn,Fe2+)3.mBea.o4PMa0u(OH)a(Hz0)2.24, Greifenstein, Saxony. 

(3) (Ca,Mn,Fe2+,Fe3+)a.otBez.sgPa.o20u(OH)a(Hz0)2.z2, Nevel Quarry, Newry 

Maine. 

SPHEROBERTRANDITE 

Bes(Si201) (OH)4? 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Semenov, 1957] 

X-ray powder data given 
THE BERYLLIUM MINERALS 21 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Semenov, 1957] 

[Numbers of ions on the basis of Si+Al+Fe=2.00] 

Si02- ______ _ 

A bOa ___ - - - -

Fe20a------- BeO _______ _ 

Weight 

percent 

41. 03 • 1. 40 

. 07 

45. 20 

Rati08 

1. 90 I H20+------ . 04 H 2

0- _____ _ 

. 01 

5. 02 

Bes.o2(Si,Al,Feh .oo01 .t&(OH) a .62 

Weight 

percent Rati08 

11. 70 1. 81 . 30 

99. 70 - - - - - -

The X-ray powder data of this mineral indicates that 

it is closely related to bertrandite (Fleischer, 1958). 

SWEDENBORGITE 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Pauling, Klug, and Winchell, 1935] 

Hexagonal: z __________ 2 

a _____ 5. 47 kX D:z--------- 4.18 g/cms 

c_ _ _ _ _ 8. 92 kX 

v ____ 231. 1kxs 

Space group: P6amc 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Palache, Berman, and Fronde!, 1951, p. 1028] 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Pauling, Klug, and Winchell, 1935] 

In this structure each beryllium atom is coordinated 

tetrahedrally by four oxygen atoms at approximately 

1.63 A. Each antimony atom is coordinated octahedrally by six oxygen atoms at approximately 1.93 A. 

The swedenborgite structure is based on a four-layer 

closest packing of the form ... ABAO ... such as is 

found in the mineral topaz. This is referred to by Pauling as double-hexagonal closest packing. Of the 16 

close-packed oxygen positions in the unit cell, only 14 

are occupied by oxygens; the other two positions are 

occupied by sodium atoms. The sodium atoms are thus 

coordinated by 12 oxygen atoms. The antimony atoms 

occupy 1,4 of the octahedral holes of alternate double 

layers. The beryllium atoms occupy lj8 of the tetrahedral holes within the double layer holding the antimony atoms. vVithin the double layers not occupied by 

antimony the beryllium atoms occupy % of the tetrahedral holes. Each 0 1 atom is shared with four Be04 

tetrahedra. The unusual sharing o£ four tetrahedra 

with a common oxygen atom is also found in the basic 

beryllium acetate, Be40(CH3C00) 6 , structure. Each 

02 and 03 oxygen atom o£ swedenborgite is coordinated 

by one antimony atom, two beryllium atoms, and two 

sodium atoms. The arrangement of the various polyhedra of the swedenborgite structure is shown in figure 18. 

FIGURE 18.-The crystal structure of swedeuborgite, NaBe4Sb07, showing the Sb06 

octahedra, the groups of four Be04 tetrahedra, and the sodium ions (spheres). 

The oxygen and sodium ions together form a double hexagonal close-packed aggregate. Reprinted from Pauling, Klug, and Winchell, 1935. 

TAAFFEITE 

(Be,Mg) (Al,Feh04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Anderson, Payne, and Claringbull, 1951] 

Hexagonal: Dm-------- 3. 613 g/cm3 

a _____ 5. 72 A z _________ 8 

c _____ 18. 38 A 

v ____ 520.8 As 

Space group: P6a22 

X-ray powder data given 

Al20a- __ ----

Fe20a- ---- - - MgO ______ _ 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Anderson and others, 1951]. 

[Numbers of ions on the basis of 32.00 oxygens] 

Weight 

percent 

70. 0 

5. 9 

13. 4 

Ratios 

7. 471 BeO _______ _ 

0.39 

3. 64 

( Be4 .sMga .&) s .4 (Fe .sA114 .9) 15. 70a2 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Anderson and others, 1951] 

Weight 

percent Ratios 

11. 0 4. 79 

1 00. 3 - - - - - -

The structure of taaffeite appears to be based on ~t 

close-packed oxygen framework with eight close-packed 

oxygen sheets in hexagonal stacking. The distance between adjacent sheets (18.38/8=2.30 A) agrees closely 

with the corresponding dimensions for spinel, MgAl204, 

where the sheets are 2.32 A apart. In spinel, however, 
22 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

the oxygen atoms are in a cubic close-packed arrangement. The oxygen atoms within the sheets of taaffeite 

are 2.86 A apart; in spinel they are 2.85 A apart. 

The data given by Anderson, Payne, and Claringbull indicate that one of the following structures is 

the correct one for the oxygen framework of taa:ffeite. 

The oxygen atoms appear to form a subcell with a=2.86 

A and c=l8.38/n A, where n=l, 2, or 4 (eight, four, 

or two oxygens per subcell) . There are six possible 

hexagonal eight-layer stacking sequences for a subcell 

with c=l8.38 A but only two are compatible with space 

group P6322. These two sequences are ... ABABAOAO 

... and ... ABOABAOB ... The only possible hexagonal four and two layer stacking sequences for subcells with c=9.2 A and 4.6 A are ... ABOB ... and 

... AB ... , respectively. These structures require the 

oxygen atoms to lie on or near the 6 and 63 axes of the 

subcell in a close-packed array. The cations must lie 

in the tetrahedral and octahedral voids of the oxygen 

framework. 

TENGERITE 

(Y,Ce)BeCOa(OH)s? 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Hidden, 190!5. Numbers of ions on the basis of Y +Ce+ Fe= 1.00] 

Weight Weight percent Ratio11 percent Ratio11 

Y20a----------- 40. 8 } Ce20a---------- 7. 0 0. 500 Fe20a- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. 0 

H20 + -_ -_ _ _ _ _ _ 14. 1 1. 82 

H20- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. 2 

BeO___________ 9. 7 . 90 

C02------------ 19. 6 1. 04 

Si02------------ . 4 

MgO, loss______ 1. 2 

100.0 

Tengerite is also .reported as having approximately 

the composition CaYa(COa)4(0H) 3.3H20 and apparently is not the same as Hidden's material which 

contains beryllium (Iimori, 1938). 

Monoclinic: 

TRIMERITE 

Ca(Mn,Fe,Mg)_(BeSi04) 3 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Strum:, 1949, p. 223] 

a ________ 1& 11 A v _______ .3411 Aa 

b_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7. 60 A Dm------ 3'. 47 g/cm~ c ________ 27. 86A z ________ 16 

{3 ________ 90°09' Dz _______ 3. 53 g/cm~ 

(for CaMn2BeaSia012) 

Space group: P2tfc (pseudohexagona~ by twinning) 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Dana, 1892, p. 460. Numbers of ions on the basis of 12.00 oxygens] 

Weight 

percent Ratio11 

Si02----------- 39. 77 2. 97 BeO __________ 17.08 3.06 

MnO __________ 26.86 } 

FeO___________ 3. 87 2. 01 

MgO__________ . 61 

Weight 

percent 

Cao __________ 12. 44 

100. 63 

Ratios 

1. 00 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

Trimerite may be structurally related to beryllonite, 

NaBeP04. 

Monoclinic: 

VAYRYNENITE 

(Mn,Fe)BeP04 (0H) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Mrose and Appleman, 1962] 

a_______ 5. 411 ±0.005 A V _________ 361.7 A3 

b _______ 14. 49 ± 0.02 A Dm- ------- 3. 215 g/cma 

c_______ 4. 730± 0.005 A z~--------- 4 

13------- 102°45' ±05' Dz--------- 3. 23 g/cm~ 

Space group: P2tfa 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

[Mrose and von KnorrinF:, 1959] 

The two analyses of vayrynenite indicate that the 

ratio of Mn2+ to Fe2+ is about 85 to 15. A small amount 

of aluminum is present and probably substitutes for Be. 

Small ~mounts of Ca, K, and N a are also present and 

probably substitute for Mn2+ and Fe2+. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Mrose and Appleman, 1962] 

The vayrynenite structure consists of zigzag ~hains 

of the composition [Be2(0H) 2(P04 ) 2]n4n- (fig. 19A). 

The chains are linked together by the Mn atoms and 

also by hydrogen bonds. The manganese atoms are coordinated by two oxygen atoms and one hydroxyl group 

( 01, 02, OH) of one chain and by one oxygen atom 

(0'1, 0'4, 04) from each of three adjacent chains. 

Within the chain each beryllium atom is coordinated 

tetrahedrally by two oxygens (02, O'a) and by two 

( OH) groups ( OH, OH'). Each phosphorus atom is 

coordinated tetrahedrally by four oxygen · atoms 

(Ot, 02, Oa, 04)· 

The Be02(0H) 2 tetrahedra share the two hydroxyl 

comers with like tetrahedra and the two oxygen corners 

with P04 tetrahedra. The P04 tetrahedra share two 

90rners (02, Oa) with two adjacent Be02(0H)2 tetrahedra. The remaining two oxygen atoms (Ot, 04) of 

the P04 groups coordinate the manganese atoms. 

A hydrogen bond exists between the ( OH) group of 

one chain and the oxygen atom Oa of an adjacent chain. 

The bond lengths found in this structure are as 

follows: 

Angstroms 

Be-0 ____________________ 1.63, 1.65 

Be-OH __________________ 1.69, 1.63 

P-0 _____________________ 1.53, 1.53, 1.55, 1.51 

Mn-0 ___________________ 2.08, 2.24, 2.14, 2.18, 2.23 

Mn-OH _________________ 2.37 

Vayrynenite bears an interesting relation to euclase 

which will be described next. 
THE BERYLLIUM COMPOUNDS 23 

A a B 

FIGURE 19.-A comparison of the [Bes(OH)s(P04)2]nto- chain. of varrynenite (A) 

with the [Be1(0H)s(Si04)2]n6o- chain of euclase (B):.large smgle .Circ~es, oxygen; large double circles, hydroxyl groups; small open crrcles, beryllium, and small 

solid circles, silicon or phosphorus. Reprinted from Mrose and Appleman (1962). 

BUCLASE 

AIBeSi04(0H) 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

[Mrose and Appleman, 1962] 

1\f onoclinic: 

a ____ 4.763±0.005 A 

b ____ 14.29±0.02 A 

c_ _ _ _ 4.618 ± 0.005 A 

~---- 100°15'±05' 

Space group: P2Jia 

v ___ 309.3 A a 

Dm- _ 3.095 g/cm3 

z __ _ 4 

Dz--- 3.115 g/cm3 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Mrose and Appleman, 1962] 

The Eitructure of -euclase consists of zigzag chains of 

the cmnposition [Be2(0H)2(8i04)2]n6n- (fig. 19B) 

cross-linked by aluminum atoms. These chains are 

oriented within the unit cell in the same manner as the 

chains in viiyrynenite. The aluminum atoms are coordinated octahedrally by 01 and 0 2 of one chain, by 

04 and ( OH) of a second chain, and by 0 1 and 04 of 

two additional chains. The 8i04 tetrahedra sha.re one 

corner (02) with an adjacent Be02(0H)2 tetrahedra 

and ~mo~her corner ( 0 3 ) with two additional 

Be02(0Hh tetrahedra. The two remaining corners 

are free to coordinate the aluminum atoms. The 

Be02 (0H)2 tetrahedra share one corner (02) with an 

8i04 tetrahedra and each of two more corners (03 , O'a) 

with an Si04 group and a Be02(0H) 2 group. The 

fourth corner ( OH) coordinates aluminum. There appears to be no hydrogen bond in this structure. 

The bond lengths are as follows: 

Angstroms 

Be-0 ____________________ 1.60, 1.63, 1.64 

Be-OH _______ ----- ____ -- 1.68 

Si-0 ____________________ 1.61, 1.6_~, _1._65, 1.62 

Al-0-----------~-------- 1.86, 1.98, 1.87, 1.93, 1.91 AI-OH __________________ 1.85 

A. comparison of the structures of vayrynenite and 

euclase shows that the arrangement of the P04 tetrahedra around Mn in vayrynenite is almost identical to 

the arrangement of the 8i04 tetrahedra about A.l in 

euclase. The difference in the two structures is due to 

the replacement of ps+ by 8i4+, and Mn2+ by A.JS+, Because 0 1, 0 2, and 0 4 coordinate both tetrahedral and 

octrahedral sites the sums of the bond strengths about 

these atoms is n~arly the same in both minerals. The 

oxygen atom 0 8 and the (OH) group, however, have 

a radically different coordination in the two structures. 

In order· to maintain local charge balance, Os must 

form one Be-0 bond in viiyrynenite ·and two Be-0 

bonds in euclase; (OH) must form two Be-0 bonds in 

vayrynenite and one Be-0 bond in euclase. A.s a result, 

the configuration of the two chains must be quite different (fig. 19). 

THE BERYLLIUM COMPOUNDS 

The inorganic and organic compounds presented in 

the following pages are listed in table 8. Although 

this is not intended to be an exhaustive account of all 

the beryllium compounds, a large proportion of those 

with known crystal structures have been included. The 

beryllium intermetallic compounds have not been included in this study. 

TABLE 8.-The beryllium compound~ 

Be(H20)4S04 BeSe ~-Be(OHh BeTe 

BeS04 BeSiN2 &~~ &~ 

BeS Be(CHah 

Be40(CHaC00)6 BeCa2H16Ns 

The beryllium fluorides 

Be(H20)4S04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND C:RYSTAI~ STRUCTURE 

[Beevers and Lipson, 1932] 

Tetragonal: a ______ 8. 02 kX z ______ 4 

c ______ 10. 75 kX Drz---- 1.70 g/cm3 

v _____ 691 kX3 

Space group: I4c2 

This structure consists of tetrahedral Be(H2 0)42+ 

and 804

2- groups linked into a three-dimensional network through hydrogen bonds between the water mole~ 

cules and the sulfate oxygen atoms. Each water 

molecule is hydrogen bonded to two oxygen atoms of 

two different 804

2- groups. The bond lengths are as 

follows: 

Angstroms 

Be-H20 ________ - - - 1. 62 

S-0 ____ ... __________ 1. 57 

H20...,0 _ .. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 56, 2. 59 
24 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

p-Be(OH)2 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Seitz, Rosier, and Schubert, 1950] 

Orthorhombic: Dm-- 1. 924 g/cm3 

a ___ 4.620±0.005A Z ___ 4 

b ___ 7. 039±0. 008 A D:r-- 1. 94 g/cm3 

c ___ 4. 535±0. 005 A 

v __ 147. s A3 

Space group: P2t2t2t 

,8-Be(OH) 2 has the £-Zn(OH)2 structure (Corey and 

Wyckoff, 1933). Beryllium is coordinated tetrahedrally by four (OH) groups. The distorted Be(OH)4 

tetrahedra link into a three-dimensional structure by 

sharing all four corners with other tetrahedra. Hydrogen bonds ·are formed between (OH) groups of 

adjacent tetrahedra. The bond lengths are: 

Be-Ot--------1. 61, 1. 69 A Be-02 ________ 1. 57, 1. 68 A 

Ot-0~---------2. 85, 2. 88 A. 

BeS04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Grund, 1955) 

Tetragonal: 

a ______ 4.49 A z ___________ 2 

c ______ 6.90 A Dx---------- 2.51 g/cms v _____ 139 As 

Space group: 14 

Be804 possesses the low cristobalite structure with 

each Be04 tetrahedron sharing corners with four 804 

tetrahedra and similarly each 804 tetrahedron sharing 

corners with four Be04 tetrahedra. The charge balance 

on each oxygen atom is thus 2. The bond lengths are 

as follows: 

S-0 _____________________________ 1.50 A 

Be-0 ___________________________ 1.56 A 

0 a-0 s- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2.46, 2.40 A 

OBe-OBe------------------------- 2.65, 2.50 A 

BeGe04 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Schutz, 1936] 

Rhombohedral: 

a ___ 7.89±0.01 kX 

a ___ 108°6' 

V _ _ 395.9 kXs 

Space group: R3 

z ________ 6 

Dx------- 3.64g/cms 

BeGe04 is isostructural with phenakite (B8:.!Si04) 

and willemite (Zn28i04). 

BeS 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Zachariasen, 1926a] 

Cubic: 

a ______ 4.853 kX 

V---- _ 114.3 kXs 

Dm---- 2.36 g/cms 

Space group: F43m 

z ___________ 4 

D:r---------- 2.37gfcms 

BeS possesses the sphalerite structure. The Be-S 

bond distance is 2.10 A in length. 

BeSe 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Zachariasen, 1926b] 

Cubic: a _________________________ 5.139 ±0.004 kX 

v _________________________ 134.9 kxs 

z _________________________ 4 

Dz----------------------- 4.315 g/cms 

Space group: F43m 

Be8e possesses the sphalerite structure and has a 

Be-8e bond distance of 2.18 A. 

BeTe 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Zachariasen, 1926c] 

Cubic: 

a __ ----------------------------- 5.615 kX v _______________________________ 111.0 kXs 

z _______________________________ 4 

Dz- _______ --------------------- 5.090 g/cms 

Space group: F43m 

BeTe has the sphalerite structure. The Be-Te bond 

distance is 2.43 A in length. 

BeSiN2 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Rabenau and Eckerlin, 1959] 

Hexagonal: 

a ____ 2.872±0.004 A I Dm---- ____ 3:12 g/cms 

c ____ 4.674±0.004 A z ____ ----- 1 

V ___ 33.39As D:r-------- 3.24g/cms 

Space group: P6smc 

Be8iN2 possesses the wurtzite structure with Be and 

Si playing the role of S, and N the role of Zn. 

BeCl2 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Rundle and Lewis, 1952] 

Orthorhombic: a _____ 9.86 A Dm------ ___ 1.899 g/cms 

b _____ 5.36 A z __________ 4 

c _____ 5.26 A Dz-- -- _____ 1.91 g/cms 

v---- 278 AS 

Space group: !bam 

The BeC12 structure is formed of chains of the type: 

Cl Cl /CI, 

// "' / " ' 

Be Be""' 

',CI~ "'CI/ Cl// 

The chains consist of BeC4 tetrahedra linked through 

the sharing of two edges with adjacent tetrahedra. The 

Be-Cl bond distance is 2.04 A. The Cl-Cl distance is 

3.85 A. This structure is similar to that of Si82. 
THE BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES 25 

Be(CHah 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Snow and Rundle, 1951] 

Orthorhombic: a _____ 6.13 A V __________ 294.4 A a 

b _____ 11.53 A z __________ 4 

c _____ 4.18 A Dz-- ------- 0.881 g/cm3 

Space group: Ibam 

Be(CH3 )2 is isostructural with BeCl2 and SiS2. The 

structure is composed of chains of the type: 

CH3 CH3 CH3 

/// " / "" / ',, Be . Be 

', / "" / "" // 

'CH~ CH~ CH{ 

The CHa groups are arranged tetrahedrally about the 

beryllium atom. The packing of the chains is approximately close-packing of circular cylinders. The Be-C 

bond distance is 1.93+0.02 A; the C-Be-C bond angle 

within the tetrahedron is 114°+1°. 

BASIC BERYLLIUM ACETATE 

Be40 ( CH3COO) s 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY A...""'iD CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Tulinsky and Worthington, 1959; see also Pauling and Sherman, 1934] 

Cubic: a ____________________ ..; ________ 15.74±0.01 A 

v _____________________________ 39oo A3 

z _____________________________ 8 

Dz---------------------------- 1.384 g/cm8 

Space group: Fd3 

The structure of this compound bears an interesting 

relationship to swedenborgite ( N aBe4Sb07 ). The central oxygen atom of the Be40(CH3C00) 6 molecule is 

surrounded tetrahedrally by four beryllium atoms. 

Each Be atom is surrounded tetrahedrally by four oxygen atoms; the central oxygen and three oxygen atoms 

of three different (CHaCOO) groups. The four Be04 

tetrahedra , thus share a common corner ( 0 1). The 

Be-01 bond distance is 1.666+0.004 A; the Be-0·2 

distance is 1.624+0.010 A. 

BERYLLIUM PHTHALOCYANINE 

BeCs2H1sNs 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE 

[Linstead and Robertson, 1936] 

Monoclinic: a ______ 21.2 kX V ___________ 1293 kXB 

b ______ 4.84 kX z ___________ 2 

c ______ 14.7 kX Dz---------- 1.33 g/cms fl ______ 121.0° 

Space group: P21/a 

The beryllium phthalocyanine molecule is planar and 

is shown in figure 20. The compound is isostructural 

with Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Pt2+, Fe2+, Mn2+ and Mg2+ phthalocyanine. The four Be-N bonds are apparently coplanar 

by analogy to the nickel and platinum phthalocyanines 

which have been studied in detail. It is unusual to find 

Be, Co, Mn, Mg, and Fe in planar coordination for in no 

other types of compounds are these elements known to 

form four coplanar bonds. (Wells, 1962, p. 926-927.) 

FIGURE 20.-The beryllium phthalocyanine, BeCa2H10N s molecule. 

THE BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES 

A large number of compounds have been studied 

which contain beryllium and fluorine as essential constituents. These compounds bear a. close structural 

relationship to a number of common minerals and inorganic compounds. A compound isostructural with, 

say, a particular silicate mineral, may he derived by 

replacing Si with Be and 0 with F. An example isa-BeF2 which is isostructural with .B-cristobalite. Such 

beryllium fluorides are referred to as "model compounds." A number of these beryllium fluoride model 

compounds along with the common minerals and compounds that are thought to be isostructural with them 

are listed in table 9. The structural relationships are 

predicted by the similarity of the X-ray powder patterns, unit cell data, and chemical formulas. Inasmuch 

as the fluoride ion has a radius almost the same as that 

of 0 2- ( 1.36 as compared with 1.40 A; Green, 1959) and 

Be2+ a similar radius to that of Si4+ (0.33 as compared 

with 0.40 A; Green, 1959) the fluorides should be expected to bear a crystal chemical similarity to the silicates. In all the beryllium fluorides listed in table 9 

beryllium is coordinated tetrahedrally by four fluoride 

ions. 
I" 

26 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

TABLE 9.-The beryllium fluoride model compounds and their structural analogs 

Unit cell 

Structure type Compound Edgel Angle System Space group 

a b fJ(a) 

a-N aaS04- -------------- a-NaaBe¥4---------------------------------------- 5. 32 7. 09. ---------- Hexagonal._------ P*** _ -------------

fJ-Ksso, ________________ _ 

a-NaaS04- ---------------------------------------- 5. 38 a-Ca,Si04------ _ ---------------------------------- 5. 45 a-KaSOt------------------------------------------- 5. 71 a-CaNaP04---------------------- ______ ----------- 5. 23 

a' -NasBeF 4--------------------------------------- fJ-KaSO,(arcanite) ---------------- ________________ _ 

RbaBe¥4------------------------------------------

KaBeF 4------------------------------------------- ThBeF 4------------------------------------------- (NH4)aBeF4---------------------------------------

SrtSi04--------------------------------------------

BaaSiOt-------------------------------------------

a'-CatSi04.---------------------------------------

5.22 

5. 73 

5.85 

5.693 

5.87 

5.8 

5. 59 5. 76 

5.30 

9.40 

10.01 

10.13 

9.896 

10.43 

10.2 

9.66 

10.17 

9.55 

7.26 ---------- _____ do _____________ -------------------- 7. 18 ---------- _____ do _____________ --------------------

7.86 ---------- _____ do _____________ -------------------- 7.13 ---------- _____ do _____________ --------------------

6. 72 

7.42 

7.66 

7.27 

7.68 

7.5 

7.262 

7.56 

6. 78 

---------- Orthorhombic _____ --~----------------- ---------- _____ do_____________ Pmcn----------~--

---- ___________ do _______ ------ _ ------------------ _ ---------- _____ do _____________ Pmcn ____________ _ _______________ do _____________ ----- ______________ _ 

---------- _____ do_____________ Pmcn ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pmcn ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pmcn ____________ _ __________ -- ___ do _____ -------- ______________ ------

Z Reference No. 

2 3. 

2 2. 

2 1. 2 2. 

2 2. 

4 1. 4 2. 

4 6. 4 2. 

4 6. 4 2. 

4 2. 

4 2. 

4 1. 

{J-CaaSi04·. -------------- {J-NatBeF4. --------------------------------------- 5. 50 {J-CaaSiO,_ ---------------------------------------- 5. 48 

6. 75 6. 76 9. 30 95° Monoclinic ________ -------------------- ----·- 1. 9. 28 95°33' _____ do _____________ -------------------- ------ 1. 

0 livine ______ - _______ ---- 'Y-N atBeF 4- ___ ----- ___ -- __________ - ________ - __ ----

NaLiBeF, __ --- _ ------------- ___ ---------- _______ _ 'Y-CaaS104(larnite) -------------- ________ -~- _______ _ (Mg, Fe) 2SiO, (olivine) ____________________________ _ 

CaMgSiO,(monticellite) _ ------------------------- MntSiO,(tephroite). ------------------ ____ --------

NaMnPO,_--_------------------------------------ CaMnSiO,(glaucochroite) _____ ---------------------

M elilite ____ ------------- N aaLiBetF7. ____________________________________ - _ 

CaaAhS107(gehlenite) ------- _______ --------------- (Ca,Na)a(Al,Fei+,Mg)(Sl;Alh07(melllite) ________ _ 

{J-Cristobalite. ---------- a-BeFt-------------------------------------------- SiOs(fJ-cristobalite) _______________________________ _ 

4.89 

4.64 

5.06 

4. 755 4.815 

4.862 

4.97 

4.92 

7.5 

7.69 

7. 789 

6.60 

7.13 

10.90 

10.72 

11.28 

10.21 

11.08 

10.62 

10.52 

11.19 

6.56 

6.20 

6. 78 5.985 

6.37 

6.221 

6.32 

6.51 

---------- Orthorhombic _____ -------------------- ---------- _____ do_____________ Pnma ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ ---------- _____ do _____________ Pbnm ____________ _ 

---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ 

5. 03 ---------- Tetragonal ________ -------------------- 5.10 ---------- _____ do_____________ P42Jm ____________ _ 5. 018 ---------- _____ do_____________ P42Jm ____________ _ 

6. 74 Tetragonal.----- _____________________ _ 

Cubic_____________ Fd3m? ------------

Quartz __________________ 'Y-BeFt-------------------------------------------- 4. 74 -------- 5.15 ---------- Hexagonal?------- -------------------- SiOs(low-quartz)__________________________________ 4. 910 -------- 5. 394 ---------- Hexagonal ________ P3a2 or P3J2 ______ _ 

Phenak:ite ______ --------- a-LiaBeF4-- _______ ----- _______ --- ________________ _ Be,siO,(phenakite) ______________________________ _ 

NaLiBeFt---------------------------------------- ZnaSi 04(willemite) ________ --__________________ ----

BesGe04- ____ ------- ________________________ ------

8.120 

7.68 

8. 24. 

8. 63 7.89 

RhombohedraL __ -------------------- -- ___ do _____ -------- .R3. _________ --- __ _ _____ do ______ ------- ___________________ _ 

_____ do_____________ _m __ -------------- -- ___ do _____ -------- ~- _________ ----- ___ _ 

4 1. 4 13. 4 2. 4 2. 4 2. 4 2. 4 2. 4 2. 

2 9. 2 2. 2 10. 

8 4., 5. 8 2. 

3? 7. 3 2. 

6 7. 6 8. 6 1. 6 2. 6 2. 

SpineL------------------ 'Y-LbBeF4----------------------------------------- 6.08 -------- -------- ---------- Cubic?-------------------------------------- 7. AbMg04(spinel)__________________________________ 8.106 -------- -------- ---------- Cubic_____________ Fd3m_____________ 8 2. 

Barite___________________ BaBeF4------------------------------------------- 6. 613 8. 73 5. 65 ---------- Orthorhombic _____ -------------------- ------ 11. BaS04(barite)_____________________________________ 7.1il 8. 85 5. 44 ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm_____________ 4 2. 

Wollastonite____________ NaBeFs--- _ ___ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ ___ ___ _ __ 15. 25 

fJ-CaSiOa(parawollastonite) ________________________ 15.31 7.17 

7.35 6. 9 95° Monoclinic ________ -------------------- 7.08 95°25' _____ do_____________ P21/a--------------

ChrysoberyL ----------- BeCrao,_ ----------------------------------------- 5. 8 10.0 4. 5 ---------- Orthorhombic _____ -------------------- BeAh04(Chrysoberyl)_____________________________ 5. 47 9. 39 4.42 ---------- _____ do_____________ Pbnm ____________ _ 

CaaSiOs------------ _ --- _ NaaBeFs- ___ ---------- ______ ---- ______ --- _ __ _ _ __ _ _ 6. 90 

CaaSiOa------------------------ _ ------------------ 7. ~ 

Diopside ___ ------------- NaLiBeaFe--------- ____________________ ------- ___ _ 9. 71 

CaMgSiaO&(diopside) __ --------------------------- 9. 71 

Zircon___________________ CaBeF 4- ___ ------- _ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ __ _ ____ ___ ___ ____ _ 6. 90 

ZrSiO,(zircon) __ ---------------------------------- 6. 58 

8.89 

8.89 

24.36 ---------- RhombohedraL__ R3m _____________ _ 24.94 ---------- _____ do _____________ R3m _____________ _ 

5. 22 105° Monoclinic________ P2J/C-------"------ 5. 24 105°50' _____ do_____________ 02/c ______________ _ 

6. 07 ---------- Tetragonal ________ -------------------- 5.93 ---------- _____ do_____________ 141/amd_ ----------

1 Measurements are assumed to be in kX units for references dated before 1949, and in angstrom units for references dated after 1948. 

REFERENCES 

1. Hahn, 1953 2. Donnay, Nowacki, and Donnay, 1954 3. Wilson, 1955, p. 262 4. Novoselova and Simanov, 1955 5. Hermann, Lohrmann, and Philipp, 1937, p. 248 6. Wilson, 1953, p. 143 7. Wilson, 1959, p. 167 8. Bragg and Zachariasen, 1929 9. O'Daniel and Tscheischwlli, 1948 10. Smith, 1953 11. Hermann, Lohrmann, and Phllipp, 1937, p. 486 12. Wilson, 1951, p. 465 13. Wilson, 1961, p. 403 14. Wilson, 1961, p. 458-9 15. Bragg and Brown, 1926 

12 12. 12 2. 

4 14. 4 15. 

9 1. 9 1. 

4 1. 4 2. 

4 1. 4 2. 
CONCLUSIONS 27 

CONCLUSIONS 

Some of the bery Ilium minerals studied bear a close 

structural relationship to other well-known minerals. 

These are: (1) .amino:ffi.te, leucophanite, gugiaite, and 

meliphanite, which are closely related to melilite; (2) 

bazzite, which is isostructural with beryl; (3) beryllosodalite, danalite, helvite, and genthelvite, which are 

isostructural with sodalite; ( 4) bromellite, which is 

isostructural with wurtzite; ( 5) bityite, which is isostructural with margarite; ( 6) chrysoberyl, which is 

isostructural with olivine; (7) herderite and gadolinite, 

which are isostructural with datolite; (8) hurlbutite, 

which is isostructural with danburite; (9) chkalovite, 

which is closely related to cristobalite; and (10) phenakite, which is isostructural with willemite. 

In all but one of the structures examined, including a 

number of organic and inorganic compounds, beryllium 

occurs in tetrahedral coordination. In those structures 

that probably are accurately determined, the Be--0 interatomic distances are approximately 1.64 A, slightly 

longer than the average Si-0 bond distance in the siliCates. Only in a group of metallo-organic compounds 

known as the phthalocyanines of which beryllium 

phthalocyanine (BeC32H16N8 ) is an example, does the 

beryllium atom occur in other than tetrahedral coordination. Here beryllium is coordinated by four nitrogen 

atoms in planar arrangement like that found commonly 

in the copper compounds. 

Table 10 gives a summary of the bond distances between the beryllium ion and the tetrahedrally coordinating anions. In the accurately determined structures 

the average Be-0 distance is 1.636 A; the average 

Be-(OH) distance is 1.650 A. 

The beryllium tetrahedra usually link through the 

sharing of corners with one, two, or three additional 

tetrahedra. In the swedenborgite, bromellite, and 

Be40(CH3C00)6 structures four Be04 tetrahedra link 

to a single oxygen -atom. In the BeS, BeSe, BeTe, and 

Be SiN 2 structures a similar configuration of four tetrahedra about one anion is found. Barylite, bertrandite, 

phenakite, and euclase posses structures in which the 

bery Ilium tetrahedra share one or more corners with 

two additional tetrahedra. In the bertrandite, hambergite, vayrynenite, and_ ,8-Be(OHh structures 

Be-OH-Be linkages are found. The compounds BeCl2 

and Be ( CH3) 2 are unusual in that the BeCl4 and 

Be ( CH3) 4 tetrahedra link -by sharing edges instead of 

corners. 

Kakihana and Sillen (1956) have studied the hydrolysis of the beryllium ion. They predict that the 

complexes Be(OH)2(H20)2, Be2(0H) (H20) 6

3+, and 

Be3(0H)3(H20) 6

3+ exist in aqueous solutions. It ap-

-pears reasonable that the complex Be(OH) 2(H20) 6 

TABLE 10.-The berryllium-anion bond lengths 1 

[An asterisk (*) indicates a compound in which the bond lengths are considered to · be accurately determined] 

Be-0 

A'114Blroms 

barylite _________________ 1. 64-1. 70 

beryL __________________ 1. 64 

beryllonite ______________ 1. 58-1. 66 

*hambergite ______________ 1. 655, 1. 639, 1. 657, 

1.636, 1. 663,1.667 herderite ________________ 1. 64, 1. 55, 1. 67 

hurlbutite ________________ 1. 60, 1. 58, 1. 59, 1. 61, 

1. 57, 1. 59, 1. 59, 1. 59 phenakite _______________ 1. 65 

swedenborgite_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. 63 

*vayrynenite _____________ 1. 63, 1. 65 

*euclase _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. 60, 1. 63, 1. 64 

*BeO ____________________ 1. 655, 1. 647 

Be804------------------ 1. 56 *Be40(CH3C00) 6 _________ 1. 666, 1. 624 

Be-(OH) 

*hambergite ______________ 1. 637, 1. 645 

*vayrynenite_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. 69, 1. 63 

*euclase _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. 68 

,3-Be(OHh-------------- 1. 57, 1. 68, 1. 61. 1. 6U 

Be-HaO 

Be(H20)4804------------ 1. 62 

Be-F 

herderite ________________ 1. 67 

Be-S 

Bes ____________________ a 10 

Be-Se 

BeSe------------------- 2. 18 

Be-Te 

BeTe ___________________ 2.43 

Be-CI 

BeC12 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 04 

Be-C 

Be(CHah---------------- 1. 93 

1 After this report went to press, two important papers describing 

refinements of the hamburgite and chrysoberyl structures came to my 

attention-Zachariasen, W. H. Plettinger, H. A., and Marezio, M., 1963. 

The structure and birefringence of hamburgite, Be2B03 • OH : Acta 

cryst., v. 16, p. 1144-1146; Farrell, E. F., Fang, J. H., and Newnham, 

R. E., 1963. Refinement of the chrysoberyl structure : Am. Mineralogist, 

v. 48, p. 804-810. Be-0 bond lengths of 1.629, 1.621, 1.673, 1.644, 1.612, 

and 1.638 A, and Be-OH bond lengths of 1.619 and 1.629 A were found 

in hamburgite. Be-0 bond lengths of 1.579, 1.687, and 1.631 A were 

found in chrysoberyl. lf these values are included with others listed 

for the accurately determined structures in table 10, the average Be-0 

and Be-OH b9nd lengths would be 1.636 A and 1.650 A, respectively. 

consists of two Be(OH) (H20) 3 tetrahedra sharing the 

(OH) corner. The complex Be(OH)2(H20)2 is probably also a tetrahedron. 

The Be3 ( 0 H) 3 ( H20) 6 

3

+ complex is the most stable of 

the three. K.akihana and Sillen find the most likely 

structure to be a six-membered ring, three tetrahedra 

being linked by sharing ( OH) corners: 
28 CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY OF BERYLLIUM 

(H20)2 

I /OH)-Be~ 

(H20)2 -Be (OH) 

~)--Be/ 

~0)2 The compounds Be(OH) (H20)2HgCl3, 

Be(OH) (H20)2HgBr3 and Be3(0H)3(H20)6Hg2I7 

have been prepared and it appears that the ring-shaped 

complex described above may be found in them. 

It may be asked in what other minerals beryllium 

may crystallize in moderate to trace amounts if available in the rock-forming magna or solution. The close 

similarity of beryllium and silicon in their crystal chemistry suggests that many of the silicates may crystallize 

with a certain amount of beryllium within the structure. Certain silicate minerals, owing to their structural resemblance to the beryllium minerals described 

above, appear to be possible sources of beryllium. 

These are olivine, the humites (closely related to olivine), the micas, sodalite, the melilites, cristobalite, tridymite, danburite, willemite, and datolite. The micas 

and the humites appear to be the only minerals 'among 

those reported by Fleischer and Cameron ( 1955) to 

contain abnormally large amounts of beryllium. Reports of high beryllium content in a number of minerals such as thorite, uraninite, and fergusonite, which 

appear to possess structures into which beryllium cannot readily substitute, suggest that the beryllium content may here be due to small amounts of an admixed 

beryllium mineral and not to solid-solution phenomenon. It is suggested by the present study that a greater 

effort should be made to analyze for beryllium the 

minerals that bear a close structural resemblance to 

the beryllium minerals and compounds described above. 

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REFERENCE.S 29 

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30 CRYSTAL CHE~STRY OF BERYLL~ 

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