Jun 11 2014
Cesplumtantite is a tetragonal, colorless mineral, containing tin, tantalum, sodium, oxygen, niobium, lead, cesium, calcium, and antimony.
The mineral was first discovered in 1986 from Manono in Shaba, Zaire. It was named after the presence of tantalum, plumium (lead), and cesium in its composition.
Properties of Cesplumtantite
The following are the key properties of Cesplumtantite:
- Cell Data
- Space Group: n.d
- a = 13.552(8)
- c = 6.445(5)
- Z = 2
- Crystal Data
- Tetragonal
- Point Group: n.d
- As veinlets and elongated aggregates, to 0.3mm
- Twinning: Polysynthetic, complex, observed microscopically
- X-ray Powder Pattern: 3.054 (10), 1.869 (7), 1.593 (7), 6.11 (5), 3.19 (5), 2.037 (5b), 1.181 (5)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
| Ta2O5 |
63.85 |
| PbO |
20.24 |
| Cs2O |
5.37 |
| Nb2O5 |
3.24 |
| Sb2O3 |
2.88 |
| SnO2 |
1.60 |
| SnO |
1.49 |
| CaO |
0.83 |
| Na2O |
0.71 |
| Total |
100.21 |
- Optical Properties
- Optical Class: Uniaxial
- Anisotropism: Strong
- Bireflectance: Weak
- R1–R2: (476) 18.2–17.1, (553) 17.3–16.5, (589) 17.1–16.5, (656) 15.6–15.3
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density) = 5.85 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Cesplumtantite = 6.96 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PECesplumtantite = 1023.11 barns/electron
U = PECesplumtantite x ρ Electron density = 5985.13 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.04
Boson index = 0.96 |
Radioactivity
|
Cesplumtantite is not radioactive
|
How to Identify Cesplumtantite
Cesplumtantite is a colorless, transparent mineral, with white streak, and adamantine luster.
It can be formed as microscopic crystals, and its hardness is 7.
Global Distribution
Cesplumtantite is widely distributed in Manono pegmatite, Katanga Province, Congo.
Occurrence of Cesplumtantite and Useful Mineral Association
Cesplumtantite occurs in veinlets in a museum specimen from a granite pegmatite.
It is closely associated with thoreaulite, microlite, calciotantite, cassiterite, and lithiotantite.
References