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Vlasovite from
Kipawa alkaline complex, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue, Témiscamingue RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada
| Locality type: | Complex | |
| Classification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Species: | Vlasovite | |
| Formula: | Na2ZrSi4O11 | |
| Comments: | Vlasovite came from a place called the vlasovite pit which was collected by the Canadian National Museum. Another pit was called the eudialyte pit and here the best specimens rich in eudialyte associated with vlasovite eyes, rimed with gittinsite which is the type locality for that mineral. The largest “eyes” measure up to about 2x3 inches but are more commonly about a half inch in diameter. It fluoresces a butter yellow under short-wave ultraviolet light. The pit is about 10x30 feet and about eight feet deep. The material appears to have been worked out. The material is a honey yellow color. About 400 lbs. of specimens (about 40 flats) were collected by Derryl MacFarlane . The mineral was found in surface workings. Discovered in 1955 by a Canadian government airborne radiometric survey. It was originally thought to be a uranium deposit but it turned out to be only rich in thorium. Unical company, a subsidiary of US Moly Corp, the company that mines Mountain Pass, California was interested in it for the zirconium and yttrium. It turned out not to be rich enough to make a mine. They cleared out about five acres on the shore of the lake for a camp. They used a skidder to clear an approximate 3 km strip along the outcrop of the complex and striped down to bedrock every 250 meters and washed the surface clean. Sampling and drilling indicated it was not worthwhile to mine, but they spent about a million dollars on development. This gave them the mineral rights for 65 years. There were over fifty claims on the complex. Derryl MacFarlane got involved in working the deposit for specimens in 1991 and concentrated in working a rich eudialyte pegmatite in the complex. The associated minerals are eudialyte, agrellite, vlasovite, gittinsite, mosandrite (rinkite”), calcite richterite, white feldspar, fluorite, thorite, and galena. The only access to the deposit is by boat or helicopter. ( Rock Currier, 2009, Darryl MacFarlane 2005.) | |
| Colour: | pale brown | |
| Quality for species: | Excellent - world class for species or very significant. (!!) | |
| Abundance at site: | Very Rare | |
| Confirmation | ||
| Validity: | Believed Valid | |
| Associated Minerals: | ||
| Associates: | Eudialyte Feldspar Group | |
| Associated Minerals Based on Photo Data: | ||
| Eudialyte | 90 | |
| Gittinsite | 68 | |
| Agrellite | 27 | |
| Albite | 18 | |
| Nepheline | 9 | |
| Katophorite | 9 | |
| Rinkite-(Ce) | 3 | |
| Opal | 1 | |
| Apophyllite Group | 1 | |
| Thorite | 1 | |
| Data | ||
| Mineral Data: | Click here to view Vlasovite data | |
| Locality Data: | Click here to view Kipawa alkaline complex, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue, Témiscamingue RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada | |
| Photo Gallery | View Gallery (31 photos) | |
| Data Identifiers | ||
| Mindat Occurrence Record ID: | 19532 | |
| Long-form Identifier: | 1:3:19532:6 | |
| GUID (UUID V4): | 0 | |
| References | ||
Kipawa alkaline complex, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue, Témiscamingue RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada