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Formula:(Na,Ca)3(Sr,Ba,Ce)3(CO3)5
Anhydrous normal carbonate, burbankite group,
strontium and
barium bearing mineral
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Specific gravity: 3.50 to 3.58
Hardness: 3½ to 4
Streak: White
Colour: Colourless, greyish yellow, pale yellow, pink, pale greenish
Solubility: Soluble in cold dilute hydrochloric acid
mildly RADIOACTIVE
Environments
Plutonic igneous environments
Carbonatites
Burbankite is typically an abundant accessory mineral in carbonatites, or in an intrusive alkalic
gabbro-syenite complex. It may
be authigenic (formed in place)
(HOM).
At Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Quebec, Canada, burbankite occurs embedded in
analcime in pegmatite dikes, associated with
microcline, aegirine,
calcite, siderite and
ancylite
(Dana).
At the Lofdal-Bergville REE deposit, Khorixas, Kunene Region, Namibia, the alkaline
carbonatite complex consists of a swarm
of carbonatite dykes and two plugs of
calcite carbonatite,
with associated dykes and plugs of phonolite,
syenite, rare gabbro,
anorthosite and
quartz-feldspar
porphyry. In the unaltered main intrusion
calcite carbonatite the
principal rare-earth host is burbankite. Indications are that burbankite formed syngenetically with the host
calcite at the magmatic stage of
carbonatite evolution. The burbankite was affected by
alteration to produce a complex secondary mineral assemblage.
Different stages of burbankite alteration are observed, from completely fresh blebs and hexagonal crystals through
to complete pseudomorphs, consisting of
carbocernaite, ancylite,
cordylite, strontianite,
celestine, parisite and
baryte
(MM 85.4.496-513).
At the type locality, Vermiculite prospect No. 6, Big Sandy Creek, Bearpaw Mountains, Hill county, Montana, USA,
burbankite occurs with ancylite,
calkinsite-(Ce), lanthanite,
calcite, biotite and
baryte (HOM). The mineral deposits
at the Vermiculite prospects occur in shonkinite,
mafic monzonite and
syenite
(AM 38.1169-1183).
At Bear Lodge Mining District, Crook Co., Wyoming, USA, burbankite is authigenic and occurs with
mckelveyite-(Y)-ewaldite (Dana). It
seems probable that burbankite was one of the last minerals to form, as it is never enclosed in any of the associated
minerals
(AM 62.158-163).
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