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Formula: CeNbO4.0.3H2O
Multiple oxide containing the rare earth elements niobium Nb and cerium Ce, usually metamict. Tetragonal
paramorph of
fergusonite-(Ce)-β,
which is monoclinic, fergusonite group
Crystal System: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 5.48 measured
Hardness: 5½ to 6½
Streak: reddish brown
Colour: dark red to black
Common impurities: U,Th
Weakly RADIOACTIVE
Environments
Carbonatites
Metamorphic environments
Localities
At Bayan Obo, Inner Mongolia, China, fergusonite-(Ce) occurs in magnesium-rich skarn
of the outer granite contact zone of a carbonatite-derived
dolomitic marble (HOM).
At the type locality, the Chernigovskiy Massif, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine, fergusonite-(Ce) occurs in a carbonatite
associated with
magnetite, phlogopite,
graphite, chlorite,
quartz, pyrite,
columbite, allanite,
bastnäsite, parisite,
apatite,
aeschynite, fersmite,
monazite-(Ce), calcite and
dolomite
(HOM, Dana, AM 74.946).
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