Galaxite is a spinel

Spinel

Spinel is the magnesium aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula MgAl2O4. Balas ruby is an old name for a rose-tinted variety.-Spinel group:...

 mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 with the chemical formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 (Mn,Fe,Mg)(Al,Fe)₂O₄. It has a vitreous luster

Lustre (mineralogy)

Lustre is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word lustre traces its origins back to the Latin word lux, meaning "light", and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance....

 and is brownish red. It also leaves a brownish red streak. It is rated 7.5 on the Mohs Scale.

It was first described in 1932 for an occurrence at Bald Knob, Alleghany County, North Carolina

Alleghany County, North Carolina

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 21* U.S. Highway 221* North Carolina Highway 18* North Carolina Highway 88* North Carolina Highway 93* North Carolina Highway 113-Demographics:...

 near its namesakes, the town of Galax, Virginia

Galax, Virginia

Galax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is bounded to the northeast by Carroll County and to the southwest by Grayson County. The population was 7,042 as of 2010...

 and the plant galax

Galax

Galax is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, Galax urceolata...

 which grows in the area.

It occurs in carbonate-rich metamorphosed

Metamorphism

Metamorphism is the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rocks due to changes in physical and chemical conditions, primarily heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids. Mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes can occur during this process...

 manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

 ore deposits. It occurs associated with alleghanyite

Alleghanyite

Alleghanyite is a moderately rare humite mineral with formula Mn522, belonging to the nesosilicates class. In general its occurrences are related with metamorphic manganese deposits. The mineral is named after Alleghany County, North Carolina, USA....

, rhodonite

Rhodonite

Rhodonite is a manganese inosilicate, SiO3 and member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals, crystallizing in the triclinic system...

, sonolite, spessartine

Spessartine

Spessartine previously named spessartite, is a nesosilicate, manganese aluminium garnet species, Mn3Al23.The name is a derivative of Spessart in Bavaria, Germany, the type locality of the mineral. It occurs most often in granite pegmatite and allied rock types and in certain low grade metamorphic...

, tephroite

Tephroite

Tephroite is a non-metallic manganese silicate mineral with the formula, Mn2SiO4.It was first described for an occurrence at the Sterling Hill Mine and Franklin, New Jersey, USA. It occurs in iron-manganese ore deposits and their related skarns. It also occurs in metamorphosed manganese-rich...

, kutnohorite

Kutnohorite

Kutnohorite is a rare calcium manganese carbonate mineral with magnesium and iron, that is a member of the dolomite group. It forms a series with dolomite, and with ankerite...

, manganhumite, jacobsite

Jacobsite

Jacobsite is a manganese iron oxide mineral. It is in the spinel group and forms a solid solution series with magnetite. The chemical formula is MnFe2O4 or with oxidation states and substitutions:2O4....

, kellyite and alabandite

Alabandite

Alabandite or alabandine is a a rarely occurring manganese sulfide mineral. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system with the chemical composition Mn2+S and develops commonly massive to granular aggregates, but rarely also cubic or octahedral crystals to 1 cm.- Etymology and History :Alabandite...

 in the Bald Knob area. Associated minerals of katoptrite, magnetite

Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...

, manganostibite, magnussonite, tephroite

Tephroite

Tephroite is a non-metallic manganese silicate mineral with the formula, Mn2SiO4.It was first described for an occurrence at the Sterling Hill Mine and Franklin, New Jersey, USA. It occurs in iron-manganese ore deposits and their related skarns. It also occurs in metamorphosed manganese-rich...

, manganhumite and manganosite

Manganosite

Manganosite is a rare mineral composed of manganese oxide MnO. It was first described in 1817 for an occurrence in the Harz Mountains, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It has also been reported from Langban and Nordmark, Sweden and at Franklin Furnace, New Jersey. It also occurs in Japan, Kyrgyzstan and...

 in the Brattfors mine area of Nordmark

Nordmark

Nordmark can mean:*Nordmark Hundred - a district of Värmland in Sweden*the German name for the Northern March - a territorial organisation in Holy Roman Empire*Arbeitserziehungslager Nordmark a work camp from the Nazis...

, Värmland

Värmland

' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.