Antsirabé, Vakinankaratra Region (Betafo - Antsirabé region), Antananarivo Province, Madagascar

Antsirabé is the main city of the Vakinanakaratra region and it is situated 169 km south of Antananarivo- the capitol of Madagascar. Antsirabé is often refered to in mineralogical litterature as a locality for minerals. In fact Antsirabe is a good market place for minerals coming from numerous localities in the Vakinankaratra region and from the whole island.
Antsirabé with its surroundings is politically divided in 2 departements: Antsirabé 1 wich covers the city and Antsirabé 2, being the area in a large circle around the city.

The type material of liddicoatite was found in soils somewhere near Antsirabé. The exact locality is not known.

References:
- Behier, J. (1963): Carte mineralogique de Madagascar. Archive Service Géologique Madagascar. A 1871

- Bulletin of the Geological Society of America Program Abstract, 1966: 63. [A cesium beryl with 11,3 per cent Cs2O coming from Antsirabe [exact locality not known]

- v. Knorring, O. V., Sahama, Th.G. (1969): Scandian ixiolite from Mozambique and Madagascar. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland. 41: 75-77. [on scandian ixiolites found in Antsirabé area]

- Dunn, P. J., Appleman, D. E. & Nelen, J. E. (1977): Liddicoatite, a new calcium end-member of the tourmaline group. American Mineralogist 62, 1121-1124.

- Pezzotta, F. and Franchi, M. (1997): Miarolitic shallow depth pegmatites of the Betafo and Antsirabe areas, central Madagascar: genetic inferences. In: International Symposium on Geology and Mineral Resources of Madagascar (Antananarivo), Program Abstracts Volume.