Mineral: Villiaumite
Locality: Kirovskii Mine, Kukisvumchorr Mountain, Khibiny Massif, Kola Peninsula, Murmanskaja Oblast, Northern Region, Russia
Dimensions: 38x18x11mm

Description: Matrix-free villiaumite specimen, fairly large with lovely carmine-red colour from the Kirovsky Mine in the Khibiny Mountains on the Kola Peninsula. Although beautiful and seemingly cubic, most villiaumite specimens of any size are usually simply cleavage fragments formed late in the development of a pegmatite and they are often followed by alkaline carbonates. Villiaumite is a moderately rare mineral form of sodium fluoride and is known from plutonic nepheline syenite rocks. A metal fluoride and easily soluble, villiaumite is highly toxic if ingested and it can react with moisture on the hands to be absorbed through the skin so is potentially harmful to humans.

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