Chemical Formula: Na
2B
4O
6(OH)
2·3(H
2O)
Locality: Boron, Kern County, California, the county that contains the fabulous borate deposits at Kramer.
Name Origin: Named after it’s locality.
Kernite, also known as rasorite is a hydrated sodium borate hydroxide mineral with formula Na
2B
4O
6(OH)
2·3(H
2O) , It is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system typically occurring as prismatic to acicular crystals or granular masses. It is relatively soft with Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and light with a specific gravity of 1.91. It exhibits perfect cleavage and a brittle fracture.
Kernite is soluble in cold water and alters to tincalconite when it dehydrates. It undergoes a non-reversible alteration to metakernite (Na
2B
4O
7·5(H
2O)) when heated to above 100°C.
Occurrence and history
The mineral occurs in sedimentary evaporite deposits in arid regions.
Kernite was discovered in 1926 in eastern Kern County, in Southern California, and later renamed after the county. The location was the US Borax Mine at Boron in the western Mojave Desert. This type material is stored at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
The Kern County mine was the only known source of the mineral for a period of time. More recently, kernite is mined in Argentina and Turkey.
The largest documented, single crystal of kernite measured 2.44 x 0.9 x 0.9 m3 and weighed ~3.8 tons.
Physical Properties
Cleavage: {100} Perfect, {001} Perfect, {201} Good
Color: Colorless, White.
Density: 1.9 – 1.92, Average = 1.91
Diaphaneity: Transparent to translucent
Fracture: Brittle – Generally displayed by glasses and most non-metallic minerals.
Hardness: 2.5-3 – Finger Nail-Calcite
Luminescence: Non-fluorescent.
Luster: Vitreous – Pearly
Streak: white
Photos :
 2·3(H 2O) Locality: Boron, Kern County, California, the county that contains the fabulous borate deposits at Kra){kind=link}