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Formula: Nd(AsO4)
Valence: Nd(As5+O4)
Simple arsenate of neodymium,
scheelite group
Crystal system: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 5.918 calculated for the empirical formula
Hardness: 5
Streak:
Colour: Pale yellow, light yellow internal reflections
Luminescence: The crystals exhibit good visible yellow luminescence at 638 nm.
Environments
Babunaite-(Nd) is a new mineral, approved in 2025 and to date (August 2026) reported only from the type locality.
Localities
At the type locality, the Babunaite-(Nd) type locality, Babuna Valley, Jakupica Mountains, Nežilovo, Čaška
Municipality, North Macedonia, babunaite-(Nd) was discovered in
muscovite-quartz
schist in an area belonging to the high-grade metamorphic region of
the Pelagonian Massif. A trench, in a region of massive marble,
contains metasomatically altered multicoloured schists and
marble-like rocks with
piemontite, dolomite,
baryte and Pb-Zn mineralisation. In the trench a layer of pink
mica schist up to 0.5 m thick
was found containing babunaite-(Nd). A few dozen metres from the babunaite-(Nd) type locality, there
is a small body of metamorphosed rhyolites. The dark pink
mica schists are composed of
Mn-bearing muscovite and quartz,
with minor braunite. Accessory minerals include
hematite, gahnite,
almeidaite, långbanite,
zircon, piemontite,
piemontite-(Pb),
nežilovite,
Sb-bearing rutile,
fluorapatite and
As-bearing fluorapatite,
gasparite-(La),
chernovite-(Y) (not strictly a primary metamorphic rock-forming
mineral, but it can occur in metamorphic environments) and
arsenoflorencite-(La).
Single crystals of babunaite-(Nd) measure up to 70 μm and often have rounded edges. The transparent,
pale yellow crystals have an adamantine lustre
(MM 90.3.615-624).
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