(Antsirabe, Faritra Vakinankaratra, Faritany Antananarivo, Madagasikara)
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. Ref.: Amer. Mineral. 62:1121-1124 (1977)
Refs.:
- 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]
- 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.
