Palygorskite

Palygorskite is a phyllosilicate mineral of the palygorskite group. It is white, greyish, yellowish or grey-green, soft at 2 to 2.5 on the Mohs scale, with a waxy to earthy lustre, and is commonly fibrous, in tangled mats known as mountain leather. It was first described in 1862 for a deposit at Palygorskaya on the Popovka River in the Middle Urals, Russia. The synonym attapulgite comes from the town of Attapulgus in Georgia, in the United States, where the mineral is abundant and surface-mined. The International Mineralogical Association prefers the term palygorskite, while attapulgite remains widely used in industrial and commercial contexts. Important deposits occur in the south-eastern United States, Senegal, China, India, South Africa, Australia and Greece.