Metamict – mineral originally crystalline, now amorphous due to radiation damage
Cleavage
Indistinct
Fracture
Subconchoidal – fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by semi-curving surfaces
Mohs scale hardness
5.5–6
Luster
Submetallic
Streak
Brown
Density
4.3–5.8, average = 5.05
Refractive index
2.05–2.19, isotropic
Other characteristics
Nonmagnetic, non-fluorescent, non-radioactive
References
[2]
Fergusonite is a mineral comprising a complex oxide of various rare-earth elements. The general chemical formula of fergusonite is (Y,REE)NbO4, where REE = rare-earth elements in solid solution with Y. Yttrium is usually dominant (the mineral in this case being referred to as fergusonite-(Y)), but sometimes Ce or Nd may be the major rare-earth component (in fergusonite-(Ce) and fergusonite-(Nd), respectively). The other rare-earth elements are present in smaller amounts, and tantalum sometimes substitutes for some of the niobium. There are fergusonite-beta-(Nd), fergusonite-beta-(Y), fergusonite-beta-(Ce) forms too, but they are classified as 4.DG.10 in the Nickel–Strunz system. The mineral has tetragonal crystal symmetry and the same structure as scheelite (calcium tungstate, CaWO4), but can be metamict (amorphous) due to radiation damage from its small content of thorium. It is found as needle-like or prismatic crystals in pegmatite. It was named after British politician and mineral collector Robert Ferguson of Raith (1767–1840).[3]
Fergusonite is a mineral comprising a complex oxide of various rare-earth elements. The general chemical formula of fergusonite is (Y,REE)NbO4, where...
county of Fife. As an amateur geologist and mineralogist the mineral Fergusonite was named after him. Robert Ferguson was the eldest son of Jane Crauford...
terminations. It is commonly associated with zircon, monazite, gadolinite, fergusonite, uraninite, yttrialite and pyrochlore. Thorite is currently an important...
davidite-brannerite-absite type uranium titanates, and the euxenite-fergusonite-samarskite group are other uranium minerals. A large variety of secondary...
gravitational separation the best method. Other minerals include samarskite and fergusonite. Australia was the main producer of tantalum prior to the 2010s, with...
are mostly in southern China. Yttrium is also found in samarskite and fergusonite (which also stand for group names). One method for obtaining pure yttrium...
as a free element, it is found in many minerals, including xenotime, fergusonite, gadolinite, euxenite, polycrase, blomstrandine, monazite and bastnäsite...
compound undergoes transformation to a monoclinic structure similar to fergusonite, YNbO4. Barium tungstate can be used as a frequency shifter in laser...
calculations based on the presence of helium as a product. He dated a sample of fergusonite at 40 million years, with the caveat that helium could escape and would...
monoclinic (labeled as M'; Pearson symbol mP12, Space group = P2/a, No 13) fergusonite-type crystal structure. This can be changed to an I2/a (M) structure...
in the world, the pegmatite was the first place geologists discovered fergusonite, thorogummite, yttrialite, and nivenite. The pegmatite is centrally located...
Italian mineralogist Roberta Oberti (born 1951) And ferro-ferri-obertiite Fergusonite: (Ce,La,Nd)NbO4 – British politician and mineral collector Robert Ferguson...
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