MAGNESITE
MAGNESITE, 1) mineral of the carbonates class. It contains 47.82% MgO, 52.18% CO2; isomorphic impurities: iron, manganese, calcium. Crystals are rhombohedral. Aggregates are granular, dense, porcelaneous, and earthy; masses are chalky and fibrous. The color is white, gray, yellowish; vitreous lustre. Hardness 4; density 3,000 kg/m3; perfect cleavage. 2) A rock, composed of the M. mineral. Magnesium in the mineral can be replaced by iron to form siderite. The origin is sedimentary, metasomatic, it is also formed by chemical weathering of ultrabasic magmatic rocks. It is a raw material for the production of refractory, construction, finishing and thermal insulation materials; it is used in the rubber, paper, chemical, pharmaceutical, and ceramic industries. In Bashkortostan, the largest deposits of M. are associated with the Riphean sedimentary masses of the Bashkir Meganticlinorium: Ismakayevskoe, Kyzyltashskoye, Syuryunzyakskoye, Yushinskoe (all – Beloretsky Raion).
