Sabinaite

Sabinaite

Tan sabinaite crystals, porcelaneous analcime crystals on a siderite matrix
General
Category Carbonate mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
Na4Zr2TiO4(CO3)4
Strunz classification 05.BB.20
Identification
Color Colourless to white
Crystal system Monoclinic
Luster Vitreous

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.

It has been found in vugs in a carbonatite sill on Montreal Island and within sodalite syenite in the alkali intrusion at Mont Saint-Hilaire in Quebec, Canada.

It was first described in 1980 for an occurrence in the Francon quarry, Montreal Island. It is named after Ann Phyllis Sabina Stenson (born 1930), a mineralogist working for the Geological Survey of Canada.

References