Lepidolite is the common name for a lilac-gray or rose-colored series of minerals in the mica group. The mineralogical name for this series is the polylithionite-trilithionite series. Lepidolite has a chemical formula of K(Li,Al)3(Al,Si)4O10(F,OH)2. It is the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral and is a secondary source of this metal. It is also the major source of the alkali metal rubidium, which substitutes (as in all minerals) for potassium.
Lepidolite is found with other lithium-bearing minerals, such as spodumene, in pegmatite bodies. It has also been found in high-temperature quartz veins, greisens and granite.
