
Cordylite-(Ce) Locality: Demix-Varennes quarry, Saint-Amable sill, Varennes & St-Amable, Lajemmerais RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada FOV 1.7 x 1.4 mm. Found July 1998. MOB coll. The ID has been confirmed by Pavel Kartashov. He has also determined that white zones are due to surface inclusions of tabular xls of parisite-(Ce). — Photo: Modris Baum · Public domain
Cordylite-(Ce)
Cordylite-(Ce) is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the carbonate class, with the chemical formula (Na,Ca, )BaCe₂(CO₃)₄(F,O).
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P6_3/mmc). It is a member of the Cordylite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 4.5; specific gravity 4.01–4.44; White streak; Adamantine, vitreous, resinous, oily, pearly on {0001}; waxy if altered luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Cod-Ce, IMA status: approved, named in 1901.
Rare in an alkali pegmatite (Narssârssuk, Greenland); a late-stage mineral in miarolitic vugs and fractures (Saint-Amable, Canada); in pegmatite dikes in association with an intrusive alkalic gabbro-syenite complex (Mont Saint-Hilaire.
It is found associated with Aegirine, ancylite-(Ce), synchysite-(Ce), parisite-(Ce), neptunite (Narssârssuk, Greenland); analcime, aegirine, albite, pyrophanite (Mont Saint-Hilaire.
Its name comes from the Greek for club, in allusion to its typical clublike crytal habit.