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Cerium

A material that is NOT an approved mineral species

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Formula:

First Recorded Locality:

ⓘ Luna 24 landing site, Mare Crisium, The Moon

Found among the lunar regolith fraction below 74 microns in size. The fraction consists mainly of glass, olivine, plagioclase, pyroxene, and iron oxide minerals. Other associated reduced species include molybdenum, rhenium, ytterbium, and zinc. Discovered as a rounded particle ca. 2.5 microns in size; the EDS spectrum lacks other REEs.

According to Burke (2024), Bogatikov et al. (2002) never submitted cerium as a species to the IMA for examination and/or approval. The 2.5 micron grain of Bogatikov et al. (2002) was restudied by Mokhov et al. (2015) and they remained in doubt whether it was an oxide or a carbide.

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Unique IdentifiersHide

Mindat ID:

46643

Long-form identifier:

mindat:1:1:46643:3

GUID
(UUID V4):

66397dd4-cbcc-4a28-9572-9b992fbd2e44

IMA Classification of CeriumHide

IMA status:

Questionable

First published:

2000

First description reference:

Bogatikov, O.A., Gorshkov, A.I., Mokhov, A.V., Kartashov, P.M., Ashikhmina, N.A., Magazina, L.O. (2002): New Finds of Native Metals in a Lunar Regolith from the Crises Sea. Transactions (Doklady) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Earth Science Section: 382: 83

Classification of CeriumHide

Strunz-mindat (2024):

1.AH.10

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
A : Metals and Intermetallic Alloys
H : Miscellaneous Elements, alloys

Mineral SymbolsHide

As of 2021 there are now IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols (abbreviations) for each mineral species, useful for tables and diagrams.

Symbol	Source	Reference
Ce	IMA–CNMNC	Warr, L.N. (2021). IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine, 85(3), 291-320. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43

Chemistry of CeriumHide

Mindat Formula:

Elements listed:

Ce - search for minerals with similar chemistry

Crystal StructureHide

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Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure

ID	Species	Reference	Year	Locality	Temp (K)
0009169	Cerium	Spedding F H, Daane A H, Herrmann K W (1956) The crystal structures and lattice parameters of high-purity scandium, yttrium and the rare earth metals Acta Crystallographica 9 559-563	1956	synthetic	293
0011142	Cerium	Wyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York Cubic closest packed, ccp, structure Crystal Structures 1 7-83	1963		293
0011168	Cerium	Wyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York Hexagonal closest packed, hcp, structure Crystal Structures 1 7-83	1963		293

CIF Raw Data - click here to close

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_chemical_name_mineral 'Cerium'
loop_
_publ_author_name
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'Daane A H'
'Herrmann K W'
_journal_name_full 'Acta Crystallographica'
_journal_volume 9 
_journal_year 1956
_journal_page_first 559
_journal_page_last 563
_publ_section_title
;
 The crystal structures and lattice parameters of high-purity scandium,
 yttrium and the rare earth metals
 Note: sample 99.9% pure
;
_database_code_amcsd 0009169
_chemical_compound_source 'Synthetic'
_chemical_formula_sum 'Ce'
_cell_length_a 5.1612
_cell_length_b 5.1612
_cell_length_c 5.1612
_cell_angle_alpha 90
_cell_angle_beta 90
_cell_angle_gamma 90
_cell_volume 137.484
_exptl_crystal_density_diffrn      6.769
_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'F m 3 m'
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loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
Ce   0.00000   0.00000   0.00000

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):

Paragenetic Mode	Earliest Age (Ga)
Near-surface Processes
26 : Hadean detrital minerals

First Recorded Occurrence of CeriumHide

First Recorded Locality:

ⓘ Luna 24 landing site, Mare Crisium, The Moon

Geological Setting of First Recorded Material:

Lunar regolith

Reference:

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat Grouping Hide

1.AH.	Decagonite	Al₇₁Ni₂₄Fe₅	Icos.
1.AH.	Mitrofanovite	Pt₃Te₄	Trig. 3m : R3m
1.AH.	Orthocuproplatinum	Pt₃Cu	Orth. mmm (2/m 2/m 2/m) : Cmmm
1.AH.	Tomamaeite	Cu₃Pt	Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Pm3m
1.AH.15	Tantalum	Ta	Iso.

Other InformationHide

Health Risks:

No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

Internet Links for CeriumHide

mindat.org URL:

https://www.mindat.org/min-46643.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

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References for CeriumHide

Reference List:

Burke, E.A.J. (2024) Van een terril via een vulkaan naar de maan. Geonieuws: 49(5): 117-128.

Mokhov, A. V., Gornostaeva, T. A., Kartashov, P. M., Bogatikov, O. A. (2015) Selective europium and cerium phases in the regolith of mare crisium. Doklady Earth Sciences, 465 (1) 1143-1146 doi:10.1134/s1028334x15110069

Localities for CeriumHide

ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence. ? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality.

- Good crystals or important locality for species.

- World class for species or very significant. (TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties). ~~Struck out~~ - Mineral was erroneously reported from this locality. Faded * - Never found at this locality but inferred to have existed at some point in the past (e.g. from pseudomorphs).

All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.

The Moon (FRL)