Zirconium minerals

Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. An empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is (Zr1–y, REEy)(SiO4)1–x(OH)4x–y. Zircon precipitates from silicate melts and has relatively high concentrations of high field strength incompatible elements. For example, hafnium is almost always present in quantities ranging from 1 to 4%. The crystal structure of zircon is tetragonal crystal system. The natural color of zirc

thumb|Pink eudialyte in syenite ([[lujavrite) from Poços de Caldas, Brazil. The white mineral is alkali feldspar, the black is aegirine, and the little brown bits are biotite.]]

Baddeleyite is a rare zirconium oxide mineral (ZrO2 or zirconia), occurring in a variety of monoclinic prismatic crystal forms. It is transparent to translucent, has high indices of refraction, and ranges from colorless to yellow, green, and dark brown. See etymology below.

Painite is a rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain who misidentified it as ruby, until it was discovered as a new gemstone in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new mineral species, the mineral was named after him.

thumb|Red zircon from Gilgit, [[Pakistan]]

Tranquillityite is a silicate mineral with formula (Fe2+)8Ti3Zr2 Si3O24. It is mostly composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, zirconium and titanium with smaller fractions of yttrium and calcium. It is named after the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), the place on the Moon where the rock samples were found during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. It was the last mineral brought from the Moon which was thought to be unique, with no counterpart on Earth, until it was discovered in Australia in 2011.

thumb|Crystal structure of carmeltazite thumb|Mount Carmel|Carmel Sapphire Carmeltazite is a rare oxide mineral. Its first discovery on Earth was announced in 2019, after it was found in Zebulun Valley in Israel. The chemical formula for carmeltazite is ZrAl2Ti4O11.

Weloganite is a rare carbonate mineral with the formula: It was discovered by Canadian government mineralogist Ann P. Sabina in 1967 and named for Canadian geologist Sir William Edmond Logan (1798–1875). It was first discovered in Francon Quarry, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and has only been reported from a few localities worldwide.

Zirconolite is a mineral, calcium zirconium titanate; formula CaZrTi2O7. Some examples of the mineral may also contain thorium, uranium, cerium, niobium and iron; the presence of thorium or uranium would make the mineral radioactive. It is black or brown in color.

Sabinaite (Na4Zr2TiO4(CO3)4) is a rare carbonate mineral. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system as colorless to white prisms within cavities. It is more typically found as powdery coatings and masses. It has a specific gravity of 3.36.

Zirkelite is an oxide mineral with the chemical formula . It occurs as well-formed fine sized isometric crystals. It is a black, brown or yellow mineral with a hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 4.7.

Panguite is a type of titanium oxide mineral first discovered as an inclusion within the Allende meteorite, and first described in 2012.

Armstrongite (CaZr[Si6O15]·3H2O) is a silicate mineral.

Raslakite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula . This formula is based on the original one, and is extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The additional silicon and oxygen shown in separation from the cyclic groups (in parentheses) are in fact connected with two 9-fold rings. The mineral has lowered symmetry (space group R3, instead of more specific for the group R3m one), similarly to some other eudialyte-group members: aqualite, labyrinthite, oneillite and voronkovite. The specific feature of raslakite is, among others, the presence of sodium a

Kosnarite is an alkali zirconium phosphate mineral (KZr2(PO4)3) named after an expert of pegmatites Richard Andrew "Rich" Kosnar, well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado (November 13, 1946 - January 15, 2007). Kosnarite contains potassium, oxygen, phosphorus, and zirconium with sodium, rubidium, hafnium, manganese and fluorine (Na, Rb, Hf, Mn, and F) being common impurities found in kosnarite. It was discovered in nature for the first time in 1991 by Vandall T. King. Samples that were found in granitic pegmatites from the Mount Mica Quarry, Paris, Oxford County, Maine, US were se

thumb|Zircon (Field of view|FOV from [[Mont Saint-Hilaire, Canada]] Jargoon or jargon (occasionally in old writings jargounce and jacounce) is a name applied by gemologists to zircons that are of sufficient quality to be cut as gemstones, but not the red color that characterizes the hyacinth or jacinth. The word is related to Persian (zircon; zar-gun, "gold-like" or "as gold").

Ikranite is a member of the eudialyte group, named after the Shubinov Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is a cyclosilicate mineral that shows trigonal symmetry with the space group R3m, and is often seen with a pseudo-hexagonal habit. Ikranite appears as translucent and ranges in color from yellow to a brownish yellow. This mineral ranks a 5 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness, though it is considered brittle, exhibiting conchoidal fracture when broken.

Khomyakovite is an exceedingly rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula . The original formula was extended to show the presence of both the cyclic silicate groups and M4-site silicon, according to the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. Some niobium substitutes for tungsten in khomyakovite. Khomyakovite is an iron-analogue of manganokhomyakovite, the second mineral being a bit more common. The two minerals are the only group representatives, beside taseqite, with species-defining strontium, although many other members display strontium diadochy. Khomyakovite is the third eudialyte-g

Aqualite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula (H3O)8(Na,K,Sr)5Ca6Zr3SiSi(Si24O66)(OH)9Cl. The formula given does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The original formula was extended to show the presence of silicon at both M3 and M4 sites, according to the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. Aqualite is unique among the eudialyte group in being hydronium-rich (the only other eudialyte-group species with essential hydronium, is the recently discovered ilyukhinite). Among the other representatives of the group it also distinguish in splitting of the M1 site i

Malhmoodite is a phosphate mineral first discovered at a mine called Union Carbide in Wilson Springs, Arkansas, United States. This mine is 10 km west of Magnet Cove, an alkaline igneous complex, and Union Carbide is in a contact region of alkalic igneous rocks and surrounding sedimentary rocks. The mineral has been approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, IMA, to be named for the late Bertha K. Malhmood, the Administrative Assistant of the Branch of Analytical Laboratories, U.S. Geological Survey.

Zirsilite-(Ce) is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula . The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and the presence of silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. Zirsilite-(Ce) differs from carbokentbrooksite in cerium-dominance over sodium only. Both minerals are intimately associated. The only other currently known representative of the eudialyte group having rare earth elements (in particular cerium, as suggested by the "-Ce)" Levinson suffix in the name) in dominance is johnsenite-(Ce).

Vlasovite is a rare inosilicate (chain silicate) mineral with sodium and zirconium, with the chemical formula Na2ZrSi4O11. It was discovered in 1961 at Vavnbed Mountain in the Lovozero Massif, in the Northern Region of Russia. The researchers who first identified it, R P Tikhonenkova and M E Kazakova, named it for Kuzma Aleksevich Vlasov (1905–1964), a Russian mineralogist and geochemist who studied the Lovozero massif, and who was the founder of the Institute of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Crystal Chemistry of Rare Elements, Moscow, Russia.

Georgbarsanovite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, formerly known under unaccepted name as barsanovite, with formula . The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and the domination of silicon at the M4 site. "REE", standing for rare earth elements, is dominated by cerium. Georgbarsanovite is characterized in dominance of manganese at the N4 site. It also differs from most other accepted group representatives in its colour. The mineral was found in nepheline pegmatite near Petrelius River, Khibiny massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. It is named aft

Ferrokentbrooksite is a moderately rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula . The original formula was extended form to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and presence of silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of eudialyte group. As suggested by its name, it is the (ferrous) iron analogue of kentbrooksite. When compared to the latter, it is also chlorine-dominant instead of being fluorine-dominant. The original (holotype) material is also relatively enriched in rare earth elements, including cerium and yttrium.

Davinciite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with the simplified formula Na12K3Ca6Fe32+Zr3(Si26O73OH)Cl2. The formula given does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The mineral was named after Leonardo da Vinci to refer to the atypical geometrical forms he tended to use, compared by the authors of the mineral description to the atypical (not ideally centrosymmetrical) geometry of the Davinciite structure. The other quite atypical feature of Davinciite is its lavender colour, while the typical eudialyte is rather pink or red.

Zigrasite is a phosphate mineral with the chemical formula of . Zigrasite was discovered and is only known to occur in the Dunton Quarry at Oxford County, Maine. Zigrasite was specifically found in the giant 1972 gem tourmaline-bearing pocket at the Dunton Quarry. Zigrasite is named after James Zigras who originally discovered and brought the mineral to attention.

Dualite is a very rare and complex mineral of the eudialyte group, its complexity being expressed in its formula . The formula is simplified as it does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The name of the mineral comes from its dual nature: zircono- and titanosilicate at once. Dualite has two modules in its structure: alluaivite one and eudialyte one. After alluaivite and labyrinthite it stands for third representative of the eudialyte group with essential titanium.

Fengchengite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the formula . The formula is simplified as it does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. When compared to other minerals of the group, fengchengite characterizes in the presence of ferric iron (thus similar to ikranite, mogovidite and feklichevite) and essential, site-dominating vacancies. The mineral was discovered in the Saima complex near Fengcheng city in China – hence its name.

Manganokhomyakovite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with the chemical formula . This formula is in extended form (based on the original one), to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and domination of silicon at the M4 site, basing on the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. Some niobium substitutes for tungsten in khomyakovite. As suggested by its name, manganokhomyakovite is a manganese-analogue of khomyakovite, the latter being more rare. The two minerals are the only group representatives, beside taseqite, with species-defining strontium, although many other members di

Reidite is a rare polymorph of ZrSiO4 created when zircon experiences high pressure and temperature. Reidite is denser than zircon and has the same crystal structure as scheelite. All natural occurrences of reidite are associated with meteorite impact events.

Manganoeudialyte is an moderately rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula Na14Ca6Mn3Zr3Si2[Si24O72(OH)2]Cl2·4H2O. The formula given is one of the forms that can be given, based on the originally reported one, and shows dominance of silicon at both the M3 and M4 sites. As suggested by its name, it is the manganese-analogue of eudialyte.

Kentbrooksite is a moderately rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with chemical formula . This extended formula shows the presence of cyclic silicate groups and dominance of Si at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. The characteristic features of kentbrooksite, that make it different from eudialyte are: (1) dominancy of fluorine (the only currently known example among the whole group), (2) dominancy of manganese, and (3) dominancy of niobium. Trace hafnium and magnesium are also reported. Kentbrooksite is relatively common when compared to most other species of

Andrianovite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula Na12(K,Sr,Ce)6Ca6(Mn,Fe)3Zr3NbSi(Si3O9)2(Si9O27)2O(O,H2O,OH)5. The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of eudialyte group. Andrianovite is unique among the eudialyte group in being potassium-rich (other eudialyte-group species with essential K are davinciite and rastsvetaevite). It is regarded as potassium analogue of kentbrooksite, but it also differs from it in being oxygen-dominant rather than fluorine-dominant. Also, the

Feklichevite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the formula Na11Ca9(Fe3+,Fe2+)2Zr3NbSi(Si3O9)2(Si9O27)2. The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and presence of silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of eudialyte group. When compared to other minerals of the group, feklichevite characterizes in the presence of ferric iron (thus similar to ikranite, mogovidite and fengchengite) and dominance of calcium at the N4 site. Calcium is ordered in the structure and is also present at the M1 site. Other iron-bearing minerals of the group

Zircophyllite is a complex mineral, formula . It crystallizes in the triclinic – pinacoidal crystal class as dark brown to black micaceous plates. It has perfect 001 cleavage, a Mohs hardness of 4 to 4.5 and a specific gravity of 3.34. Its indices of refraction are nα=1.708 nβ=1.738 nγ=1.747 and it has a 2V optical angle of 62°.

Rastsveatevite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula . Its structure is modular. It is only the third member of the group after andrianovite and davinciite with essential (site-dominating) potassium. Potassium and sodium enter both N4 and M2 sites. The mineral is named after Russian crystallographer Ramiza K. Rastsvetaeva.