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Formula: Ce(PO4).H2O
Hydrated normal phosphate, the most common member of the
rhabdophane group
Specific gravity: 3.77 to 4.01
Hardness: 3½
Streak: Colourless when pure
Colour: Brown, pale pink, yellowish white, pale grey, fibres may be colourless in transmitted light
Solubility: Readily soluble in hydrochloric acid
Common impurities: La,Nd and other rare earth elements
Weakly RADIOACTIVE
Environments
Pegmatites
Hydrothermal environments
Rhabdophane-(Ce) is an uncommon late-stage mineral in almost all of its occurrences, namely
nepheline syenite
pegmatites, polymetallic veins and also rarely in
granite pegmatites;
it has been found in limonite beds
(Mindat).
Localities
At the Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Wolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany,
rhabdophane-(Ce) occurs as white to pale brown crystals in druses on baryte,
fluorite, chalcopyrite and
tetrahedrite
(AM 65.1065, Dana).
At Zagi Mountain, Hameed Abad Kafoor Dheri, Peshawar District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan,
rhabdophane-(Ce) has been found as a yellowish tan coating on a 3 cm cluster of
bastnäsite crystals. It appears to be a replacement of the
bastnäsite rather than an encrustation or overgrowth
(Minrec 35.3.218).
At the type locality, Fowey Consols, Tywardreath and Par, Cornwall, England, UK, rhabdophane-(Ce) occurs
in a vein copper ore deposit associated with
sphalerite
(Mindat, HOM).
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