Tapiolite
| Tapiolite | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General | |
| Category | Mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | (Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6 |
| Crystal system | Tetragonal |
| Crystal class | Ditetragonal dipyramidal (4/mmm) H-M symbol: (4/m 2/m 2/m) |
| Space group | P42/mnm |
| Identification | |
| References | [1] |
Tapiolite [(Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6] is a black mineral series that is an ore of niobium and tantalum. The tapiolite group includes tapiolite-(Fe) or ferrotapiolite and tapiolite-(Mn) or manganotapiolite.[2][3][4] Tapiolite-(Fe) is by far the more common of the two.[5][6]
The minerals have a submetallic luster and a high specific gravity with tapiolite-Fe having a higher specific gravity (7.90)[5] versus 7.72 for tapiolite-Mn.[6]
The mineral was named in 1863 after the forest god Tapio of Finnish mythology, and the original tapiolite material came from Sukula, Tammela, Tavastia Proper, Finland.[2][7]
Tapiolite is very close to columbite and tantalite. Those minerals have the same chemical composition, but different crystal symmetry orthorhombic for tantalite or columbite and tetragonal for tapiolite.[8]
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Crystal structure of tapiolite.
References
- ^ Mineralienatlas
- ^ a b Mindat tapiolite group
- ^ Ferrotapiolite in the Handbook of Mineralogy
- ^ Manganotapiolite in the Handbook of Mineralogy
- ^ a b Tapiolite-Fe on Mindat
- ^ a b Tapiolite-Mn on Mindat
- ^ webmineral Tapiolite
- ^ P. Cerny et al. "The tantalite-tapiolite gap: natural assemblages versus experimental data" Canadian Mineralogist 30 (1992) 587 free download
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