Wodginite
Wodginite is a manganese, tin, tantalum oxide mineral with formula Mn2+(Sn,Ta)Ta2O8. It may include significant niobium.[1][2]
| Wodginite | |
|---|---|
 Wodginite over cassiterite | |
| General | |
| Category | Oxide - Tantalate mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | Mn2+(Sn,Ta)Ta2O8 |
| Strunz classification | 4.DB.40 |
| Dana classification | 08.01.08.01 |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Identification | |
| Color | Reddish brown, dark brown to black |
| Crystal habit | Flattened dipyramidal to prismatic crystals in radiating groups; granular, massive. |
| Twinning | Very common as penetration twins |
| Cleavage | none |
| Fracture | Irregular |
| Tenacity | Brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5.5 |
| Luster | Sub-metallic |
| Streak | Brown |
| Diaphaneity | Opaque, translucent in thin fragments |
| Specific gravity | 7.19–7.36 |
| References | [1][2][3] |
Background
Wodginite was first described in 1963 for an occurrence in the Wodgina pegmatite, Wodgina, Pilbara Region, Western Australia.[3]
Typical occurrence of Wodginite occurs in zoned pegmatites in amphibolite. It is associated with tantalite, albite, quartz, muscovite, tapiolite, microlite and microcline.[1]
It occurs in pegmatites in a wide variety of locations. The most studied is the Tanco pegmatite in Manitoba, Canada; also in Red Lake, Ontario. It is reported from the Strickland quarry, Portland, Middlesex County, Connecticut; the Herbb #2 pegmatite, Powhatan County, Virginia; the McAllister mine, Rockford, Coosa County, Alabama; the Peerless mine, Pennington County, South Dakota. Also from Paraíba and Minas Gerais, Brazil; Krasonice, Czech Republic; Orivesi, Finland; Kalba, eastern Kazakhstan; Ankole, Uganda; Miami district, Zimbabwe and Karibib and Kohero, Namibia.[1][3]
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References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wodginite. |
- Handbook of Mineralogy
- Webmineral data
- Mindat.org
- Ercit, T. S.; Hawthorne, F.; Cerny, P. (1992). "The wodginite group: I. structural crystallography". Canadian Mineralogist. 30: 597–611.
- Nickel, E H; Rowland, J F; McAdam, R C (1963). "Wodginite - A new tin-manganese tantalate from Wodgina, Australia and Bernic lake, Manitoba" (PDF). The Canadian Mineralogist. 7: 390–402.