Hafnon

Hafnon is a hafnium nesosilicate mineral, chemical formula (Hf,Zr)SiO4 or (Hf,Zr,Th,U,Y)SiO4.[1] In natural zircon ZrSiO4 part of the zirconium is replaced by the very similar hafnium and so natural zircon is never pure ZrSiO4. A zircon with 100% hafnium substitution can be made synthetically and is hafnon.

Hafnon occurs as transparent red to red orange tetragonal crystals with a hardness of 7.5.[2]

Hafnon occurs naturally in tantalum-bearing granite pegmatites in the Zambezia district, Mozambique and in weathered pegmatites at Mount Holland, Western Australia.[3] It has also been reported from locations in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, Canada; North Carolina, United States; and in Zimbabwe.[2]

References
  1. http://www.minerals.net/mineral/silicate/neso/zircon/hafnon.htm Minerals.net
  2. http://www.mindat.org/min-1792.html Mindat
  3. http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/Hafnon.PDF Handbook of Mineralogy
  • Emsley, John. Nature's Building Blocks. Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-19-850341-5
  • J. A. Speer, B. J. Cooper (1982). "Crystal structure of synthetic hafnon, HfSiO4, comparison with zircon and the actinide orthosilicates" (PDF). American Mineralogist. 67: 804–808.


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