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Formula: Na4Ce2(CO3)5
Anhydrous carbonate, burbankite group,
cerium-bearing mineral
Crystal system: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 3.69 measured, 3.67 calculated
Hardness: 3
Streak: White
Colour: Pinkish grey, yellow
Luminescence: Not fluorescent under long wave or short wave UV
Environments
Localities
At the type locality, the Poudrette quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec,
Canada, the type specimen of petersenite-(Ce) occurs in a late-stage
pegmatitic phase of the
nepheline-sodalite
syenite, near the contact with the
hornfels unit. The petersenite-(Ce) is associated with the
following minerals: a member of the astrophyllite group,
aegirine, albite,
analcime, biotite,
calcite, catapleiite, a member
of the chlorite group,
epididymite, eudialyte,
fluorite, galena,
microcline,
polylithionite,
rhodochrosite, serandite
and sphalerite. Petersenite-(Ce) has also been found at the
Poudrette Quarry as yellow, transparent, acicular crystals attaining several millimeters in length, embedded in
trona, from a sodalite-rich
inclusion in nepheline syenite, and as mauve, acicular
crystals up to 1 mm in length in a pegmatite phase in
nepheline syenite associated with
microcline, albite,
aegirine shomiokite-(Y).
Petersenite-(Ce) forms striated prisms, owing to parallel growth, up to 7 mm in length. The type material is
grey with a slight pinkish tint and a vitreous lustre. It has a white streak and is translucent to transparent in
thin splinters
(CM 32.2.405-414).
Petersen-(Ce) from the Poudrette Quarry -
Image
At Koashva Mt, Khibiny Massif, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, petersenite-(Ce) occurs in the core of a large
pegmatite in a differentiated alkalic massif. Associated
minerals include aegirine,
nacaphite, vitusite-(Ce),
pectolite, thermonatrite,
lomonosovite and
sazykinaite-(Y)
(HOM).
Petersenite-(Ce) from the Koashva Mt -
Image
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