apatite
The chief phosphate mineral, large deposits of which are found in the Kola peninsula, Russia, North Africa, and Montana and Florida. It is mined for fertilizer and is the major ore of phosphorus. Its chemical composition is Ca5(PO4)3X, where X = F (fluorapatite, the most common), CL (chlorapatite), OH (hydroxyapatite), or a mixture of all three; it forms hexagonal crystals.
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• GEOLOGY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE
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