A few days ago, the new mineral "cerium (shì) tantalum (tǎn) calcite" discovered and declared by the relevant staff of the Laboratory of Mineral Microzone Material Composition and Structure (hereinafter referred to as the "Mineral Laboratory") of the Institute of Mineral Resources of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences was approved by the International Mineralogical Association-New Mineral Nomenclature and Classification Committee.
Cerium-tantalum calcite production status and its symbiotic mineral assemblage.
Cer-tantalum calcite is found in a rare metal pegmatite deposit in Jiangxi, which is produced in the form of needles, bundles or short columns under the microscope, which is brownish-black or black, and symbiotic with minerals such as feldspar, fine crystalline and fluorite. The analysis of the mineral composition is done in the electron probe laboratory of the mineral room of the Institute of Natural Resources, and the composition is extremely rich in tantalum.
Cerium-tantalum calcite belongs to the tantalum-rich cerium-rich end element of the calcite family. In China, calcite was first discovered by Mr. Zhang Peishan in Baiyun Obo in 1957, which opened the prelude to niobium ore prospecting in Baiyun Obo.
Crystal structure of cerium-tantalum calcite.
The common calcite in nature is niobium-rich titanium-rich end members, and there are few tantalum-rich calcite stones. As an important rare metal element, tantalum has important applications in the field of high-end capacitors and aerospace materials. Tantalum calcite occurs in highly evolved rare metal pegmatites, which represent the characteristics of extremely tantalum richness in ore-forming fluids, and is of great significance for the study of tantalum prospecting and mineralization.
* CCTV news client reporter: Zhao Xuefeng.