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Stibiotantalite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Stibiotantalite

  
Stibiotantalite is named from its Antimony (Sb) content (the Greek word for Antimony is stibio) and its
relation to Tantalite.

Discovered in 1893; IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered)

 

Chemistry

 

 

Chemical Formula:

Sb(Ta,Nb)O4

 

Antimony Tantalum Oxide

Molecular Weight:

366.70 gm

Composition:

Tantalum

49.35 %

Ta

60.25 %

Ta2O5

 

Antimony

33.20 %

Sb

41.93 %

SbO2

 

Oxygen

17.45 %

O

 

 

 

 

100.00 %

 

102.18 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

 

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Oxides

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

4/D.25-30

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

4.DE.30

 

4 : OXIDES (Hydroxides, V[5,6] vanadates, arsenites, antimonites, bismuthites, sulfites, selenites, tellurites, iodates)
D : Metal: Oxygen = 1:2 and similar
E : With medium-sized cations; with various polyhedra

Related to:

Cervantite Group. Stibiocolumbite - Stibiotantalite Series.

Members of Group:

Cervantite Group: Bismutocolumbite, Bismutotantalite, Cervantite, Clinocervantite, Stibiocolumbite, Stibiotantalite

Varieties:

Bismuthian Stibiotantalite

Synonyms:

None

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Orthorhombic - Pyramidal

Crystal Habit:

Crystals prismatic || [010], flattened || to [001], may be equant, to 12 cm; {001} and {101} striated || [010].

Twinning:

About [010] with composition plane {001}; polysynthetic.

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

Distinct on {001}, Indistinct on {100}

Fracture:

Sub-Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

5.5

Density:

5.98 - 7.53 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

Yellow, greenish yellow, yellowish brown, reddish brown, brown

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Adamantine to Resinous

Refractive Index:

2.374 - 2.457  Biaxial ( + )

Birefringence:

0.0826

Dispersion:

0.146; Relatively Strong; r < v

Pleochroism:

Colorless

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

An uncommon accessory mineral in complex granite pegmatites.

Common Associations:

Tantalite (Greenbushes, Western Australia); Antimony, Allemontite, Microlite, Stibiomicrolite, Lithiophilite, alkalic Beryl, Cassiterite, Columbite–Tantalite (Varuträsk, Sweden).

Common Impurities:

Nb

Type Locality:

Greenbushes Sn placers, Greenbushes Tinfield, Western Australia, Australia

Year Discovered:

1893

View mineral photos:

Stibiotantalite Mineral Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

 

 


Stibiotantalite is extremely rare as a faceted gem. Stibiotantalite crystals are fairly rare and usually almost opague or very heavily included, so transparent gems are extremely rare. Stibiotantalite is strongly birefringent which may give gems with any clarity a sleepy look due to doubling of the back facets when seen through the table. Clean, facetable crystals are extremely rare.

These locations may be th only sources of facetable crystals: Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil; Alto Ligonha District, Zambezia Province, Mozambique; and in the USA at San Diego County, California.

Distribution: From the Greenbushes tin placers, Wodgina district, Western Australia. Large crystals at the Muiâne and other mines, Alto Ligonha, Mozambique. From the Benson mine, Mtoko, Zimbabwe. In the USA, from Topsham, Sagadahoc County, Maine; in California, in San Diego County, fine crystals from the Himalaya mine, Mesa Grande district; at the Katerina, Stewart, and Vandenburg mines, Pala district; and in the Little Three mine, Ramona district; in the Brown Derby pegmatite, Gunnison County, Colorado. In the Varuträsk pegmatite, 15 km northwest of Skellefteå, Västerbotten, Sweden. From the Voronya massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Found near Stak Nala, Gilgit district, Pakistan.
 

  
Stibiotantalite gems for sale:

Stibiotantalite-002

Gem:

Stibiotantalite

Stock #:

STIBIO-002

Weight:

0.1560 ct

Size:

2.58 x 1.53 mm

Shape:

Round

Color:

Straw Yellow

Clarity:

SI2

Origin:

Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Treatment:

None (natural)

Price:

SOLD (but we have others)

Pictures are of the actual gem offered for sale.
Gem images are magnified to show detail.

Stibiotantalite-002

An extremely rare gem from Alto do Giz pegmatite, Equador, Seridó Oriental, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Region, Brazil that is eye clean with ideal color.


Stibiotantalite-001

Gem:

Stibiotantalite

Stock #:

STIBIO-001

Weight:

0.1860 ct

Size:

4.11 x 3.22 x 1.51 mm

Shape:

Fancy Triangle

Color:

Straw Yellow

Clarity:

Eye Clean

Origin:

Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Treatment:

None (natural)

Price:

SOLD (but we have others)

Pictures are of the actual gem offered for sale.
Gem images are magnified to show detail.

Stibiotantalite-001

An extremely rare gem from Alto do Giz pegmatite, Equador, Seridó Oriental, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Region, Brazil that is eye clean with ideal color.


 


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