Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?
Below are some preliminary notes I have made about Niocalite. This entry and thread has been made as a place holder for information that you will hopefully contribute about Niocalite. It should be in no way be thought of as a claim I have staked out to write about this mineral, and in fact is an invitation for someone to step forward and create the article about this mineral. If you are so inclined and have questions about the format that such an article should have, go the The welcome topic at the top of the Best Minerals forum and read what has been posted there. Also take a look at some of the more mature articles that have already been written like Rhodochrosite, Adamite, Millerite etc. You will need also to pick out other images of Niocalite that will go into the article.
Niocalite Rare Mineral and Species Collections
(Ca,Nb)4[(O,OH,F)2 |Si2O7] Monoclinic
The niocalites resembled the apatites and one had to be careful identifying them. (well, they are quite yellow, and should you be lucky enough to see terminations, that would clinch it)
In fact I have my doubts about some of the niocalite photos here. (Peterson's photo 46987 is the most convincing)
Laszlo Horvath who lives close to Oka set up the localities and species listed here. He did not list the St Lawrence Mine as a niocalite locality. (that would be correct, niocalite has never been reported from the St Lawrence Mine)
Old folklore was that Niocalite occured throughout the complex. (no, it only occurs in a single rock layer within the Bond Zone (which is in the SW part of the complex)
That is reflected in the two localities listed here for Niocalite- the Bond Zone and the whole Oka Complex!!! What to do? (well, the general occurrence of "Oka Complex" can be dropped. The trenches exposing niocalite-bearing rock are only on the Quebec Columbium Ltd property, so the general locality for any niocalite for which a specific trench number is not known can read: Quebec Columbium Ltd property (Bond Zone), Oka Carbonatite Complex, Deux-Montagnes County, Quebec, Canada. The Complex has also been referred to less frequently as the Oka Alkaline Complex)
Cheers,
Bob Ramik
Also, nearby the type latrappite is the type niocalite occurrence at lat/long: 45.5020, -74.0504 . This is the west end of trench T4 of the Quebec Columbium Ltd property. Niocalite came from other nearby trenches that also exposed the same niocalite-bearing rock in the Bond Zone, but the best (and probably most) specimens of niocalite came from T4.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2009 06:45PM by Rob Woodside.
