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Oneillite
Oneillite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula .Mindat, Oneillite, http://www.mindat.org/min-11029.htmlJohnsen, O., Grice, J.D., and Gault, R.A., 1999. Oneillite: a new Ca-deficient and ''REE''-rich member of the eudialyte group from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. The Canadian Mineralogist 37, 1295-1301 The formula is based on the original one but extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and domination of Si at the M4 site. The mineral has lowered symmetry (space group ''R''3, instead of more specific for the group ''R''3''m'' one) due to Ca-Mn ordering. Similar feature is displayed by some other eudialyte-group members: aqualite, labyrinthite, raslakite, and voronkovite. Oneillite is strongly enriched in rare earth elements (REE, mainly cerium), but REE do not dominate any of its sites. Notes on chemistry Rare earth elements in oneillite include cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, and yttrium, with minor praseodymium and gadolinium. Ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labyrinthite
Labyrinthite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group.Mindat, http://www.mindat.org/min-27420.html When compared to other species in the group, its structure is extremely complex - with over 100 sites and about 800 cations and anions - hence its name, with its complexity expressed in its chemical formula .Khomyakov, A.P., Nechelyustov, G.N., and Rastsvetaeva, R.K., 2006. Labyrinthite , a new mineral with a modular eudialyte-like structure from Khibiny Alkaline Massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Zapiski Vserossiyskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva 135(2), 38-49 The formula is simplified as it does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. Complexity of the structure results in symmetry lowering (likely due to ordering of cations) from the typical centrosymmetrical group to ''R''3 space group. Other eudialyte-group representatives with such symmetry lowering include aqualite, oneillite, raslakite, voronkovite. Labyrinthite is the second dual-nature (both zircono- and titan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voronkovite
Voronkovite is a very rare mineralMindat, Voronkovite, http://www.mindat.org/min-32199.html of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula .Khomyakov, A.P., Nechelyustov, G.N., and Rastsvetaeva, R.K., 2010, Voronkovite, , a new mineral species of the eudialyte group from the Lovozero alkaline pluton, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Geology of Ore Deposits 51(8), 750–756 The formula is based on the simplified original one; it does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups, but two M3- and M4-site silicon atoms are shown separately (basing on the nomenclature of the eudialyte groupJohnsen, O., Ferraris, G., Gault, R.A., Grice, D.G., Kampf, A.R., and Pekov, I.V., 2003. The nomenclature of eudialyte-group minerals. The Canadian Mineralogist 41, 785–794). Voronkovite has lowered symmetry (space group ''R''3, instead of more specific for the group ''R''3''m'' one), similarly to some other eudialyte-group members: aqualite, labyrinthite, oneillite and raslakite. The specific feature of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raslakite
Raslakite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula . This formula is based on the original one, and is extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The additional silicon and oxygen shown in separation from the cyclic groups (in parentheses) are in fact connected with two 9-fold rings.Mindat, Raslakite, http://www.mindat.org/min-25687.html The mineral has lowered symmetry (space group ''R''3, instead of more specific for the group ''R''3''m'' one),Chukanov, N.V., Pekov, I.V., Zadov, A.E., Korovushkin, V.V., Ekimenkova, I.A., and Rastsvetaeva, R.K., 2003: Ikranite, and raslakite -new eudialyte-group minerals from the Lovozero massif, Kola Peninsula. Zapiski Vserossiyskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva 132(5), 22–33 (in Russian, with English abstract) similarly to some other eudialyte-group members: aqualite, labyrinthite, oneillite and voronkovite. The specific feature of raslakite is, among others, the presence of sodium and zirconium at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold, hence the well-known nickname of ''fool's gold''. The color has also led to the nicknames ''brass'', ''brazzle'', and ''Brazil'', primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal. The name ''pyrite'' is derived from the Greek (), 'stone or mineral which strikes fire', in turn from (), 'fire'. In ancient Roman times, this name was applied to several types of stone that would create sparks when struck against steel; Pliny the Elder described one of them as being brassy, almost certainly a reference to what we now call pyrite. By Georgius Agricola's time, , the term had become a generic term for all of the sulfide minerals. Pyrite is usually found associated with other sulfides or oxides in quartz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tantalum
Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant. It is part of the refractory metals group, which are widely used as components of strong high-melting-point alloys. It is a group 5 element, along with vanadium and niobium, and it always occurs in geologic sources together with the chemically similar niobium, mainly in the mineral groups tantalite, columbite and coltan. The chemical inertness and very high melting point of tantalum make it valuable for laboratory and industrial equipment such as reaction vessels and vacuum furnaces. It is used in tantalum capacitors for electronic equipment such as computers. Tantalum is considered a technology-critical element by the European Commission. History Tantalum was discovered in Sweden in 1802 by And ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mont Saint-Hilaire
Mont Saint-Hilaire (English: Mount Saint-Hilaire; abe, Wigwômadenizibo; see for other names) is an isolated hill, high, in the Montérégie region of southern Quebec. It is about thirty kilometres east of Montreal, and immediately east of the Richelieu River. It is one of the Monteregian Hills. Around the mountains are the towns of Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Other nearby towns include Otterburn Park, Beloeil and McMasterville. The area surrounding the mountain is a biosphere reserve, as one of the last remnants of the primeval forests of the Saint-Lawrence valley. Most of the mountain is currently the property of McGill University, as the ''Gault Nature Reserve'', which is considered the third McGill campus. The University has opened the western half of the mountain to visitors (at a fee) for hiking and cross-country skiing, as the ''Milieu Naturel'' (natural area). The eastern half, or ''Milieu de Conservation'' (preservation area) is not accessible to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aegirine
Aegirine is a member of the clinopyroxene group of inosilicate minerals. Aegirine is the sodium endmember of the aegirine-augite series. Aegirine has the chemical formula Na Fe Si2 O6 in which the iron is present as Fe3+. In the aegirine-augite series the sodium is variably replaced by calcium with iron(II) and magnesium replacing the iron(III) to balance the charge. Aluminium also substitutes for the iron(III). Acmite is a fibrous, green-colored variety. Aegirine occurs as dark green monoclinic prismatic crystals. It has a glassy luster and perfect cleavage. Its Mohs hardness varies from 5 to 6, and its specific gravity is between 3.2 and 3.4. This mineral commonly occurs in alkalic igneous rocks, nepheline syenites, carbonatites and pegmatites. It also appears in regionally metamorphosed schists, gneisses, and iron formations; in blueschist facies rocks, and from sodium metasomatism in granulites. It may occur as an authigenic mineral in shales and marls. It occurs in asso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albite
Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula . It is a tectosilicate. Its color is usually pure white, hence its name from Latin, . It is a common constituent in felsic rocks. Properties Albite crystallizes with triclinic pinacoidal forms. Its specific gravity is about 2.62 and it has a Mohs hardness of 6–6.5. Albite almost always exhibits crystal twinning often as minute parallel striations on the crystal face. Albite often occurs as fine parallel segregations alternating with pink microcline in perthite as a result of exolution on cooling. There are two variants of albite, which are referred to as 'low albite' and 'high albite'; the latter is also known as 'analbite'. Although both variants are triclinic, they differ in the volume of their unit cell, which is slightly larger for the 'high' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodalite
Sodalite ( ) is a tectosilicate mineral with the formula , with royal blue varieties widely used as an ornamental gemstone. Although massive sodalite samples are opaque, crystals are usually transparent to translucent. Sodalite is a member of the sodalite group with hauyne, nosean, lazurite and tugtupite. First discovered by Europeans in 1811 in the Ilimaussaq intrusive complex in Greenland, sodalite did not become important as an ornamental stone until 1891 when vast deposits of fine material were discovered in Ontario, Canada. Structure The structure of sodalite was first studied by Linus Pauling in 1930. It is a cubic mineral of space group P3n ( space group 218) which consists of an aluminosilicate cage network with Na+ cations and chloride anions in the interframework. (There may be small amounts of other cations and anions instead.) This framework forms a zeolite cage structure. Each unit cell has two cavities, which have almost the same structure as the borate cage fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicate Mineral
Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually considered a silicate mineral. Silica is found in nature as the mineral quartz, and its polymorphs. On Earth, a wide variety of silicate minerals occur in an even wider range of combinations as a result of the processes that have been forming and re-working the crust for billions of years. These processes include partial melting, crystallization, fractionation, metamorphism, weathering, and diagenesis. Living organisms also contribute to this geologic cycle. For example, a type of plankton known as diatoms construct their exoskeletons ("frustules") from silica extracted from seawater. The frustules of dead diatoms are a major constituent of deep ocean sediment, and of diatomaceous earth. General structure A silicate mineral is generally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hafnium
Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, though it was not identified until 1923, by Dirk Coster and George de Hevesy, making it the penultimate stable element to be discovered (the last being rhenium in 1925). Hafnium is named after , the Latin name for Copenhagen, where it was discovered. Hafnium is used in filaments and electrodes. Some semiconductor fabrication processes use its oxide for integrated circuits at 45 nanometers and smaller feature lengths. Some superalloys used for special applications contain hafnium in combination with niobium, titanium, or tungsten. Hafnium's large neutron capture cross section makes it a good material for neutron absorption in control rods in nuclear power plants, but at the same time requires that it b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
