Mianningite, (,Pb,Ce,Na)(U (super 4+) ,Mn,U (super 6+) )Fe (super 3+) (sub 2) (Ti,Fe (super 3+) ) (sub 18) O (sub 38) , a new member of the crichtonite group from Maoniuping REE deposit, Mianning County, northwest Sichuan, China

Mianningite (IMA 2014-072), ideally (,Pb,Ce,Na)(U (super 4+) ,Mn,U (super 6+) )Fe (super 3+) (sub 2) (Ti,Fe (super 3+) ) (sub 18) O (sub 38) , is a new member of the crichtonite group from the Maoniuping REE deposit, Mianning county, Sichuan province, China. It was found in fractures of lamprophyre veins and in the contact between lamprophyre and a later quartz-alkali feldspar syenite dyke with REE mineralization, and is named after its type locality. Associated minerals are microcline, albite, quartz, iron-rich phlogopite, augite, muscovite, calcite, baryte, fluorite, epidote, pyrite, magnetite, hematite, galena, hydroxylapatite, titanite, ilmenite, rutile, garnet-group minerals, zircon, allanite-(Ce), monazite-(Ce), bastnasite-(Ce), parisite-(Ce), maoniupingite-(Ce), thorite, pyrochlore-group minerals and chlorite. Mianningite occurs as opaque subhedral to euhedral tabular crystals, up to 1-2 mm in size, black in color and streak, and with a submetallic luster. Mianningite is brittle, with a conchoidal fracture. Its average micro-indentation hardness is 83.8 kg/mm (super 2) (load 0.2 kg), which is equivalent to nearly equal 6 on the Mohs hardness scale. Its measured and calculated densities are 4.62 (8) g/cm (super 3) and 4.77 g/cm (super 3) , respectively. Under reflected light, mianningite is grayish white, with no internal reflections. It appears isotropic and exhibits neither bireflectance nor pleochroism. The empirical formula, calculated on the basis of 38 O atoms per formula unit (apfu), is [ (sub 0.322) (Pb (sub 0.215) Ba (sub 0.037) Sr (sub 0.036) Ca (sub 0.010) ) (sub Sigma 0.298) (Ce (sub 0.128) La (sub 0.077) Nd (sub 0.012) ) (sub Sigma 0.217) (Na (sub 0.127) K (sub 0.036) ) (sub Sigma 0.163) ] (sub Sigma 1.000) (U (super 4+) (sub 0.447) Mn (sub 0.293) U (super 6+) (sub 0.112) Y (sub 0.091) Zr (sub 0.023) Th (sub 0.011) ) (sub Sigma 0.977) (Fe (super 3+) (sub 1.224) Fe (super 2+) (sub 0.243) Mg (sub 0.023) P (sub 0.008) Si (sub 0.006) (sub 0.496) ) (sub Sigma 2.000) (Ti (sub 12.4 64) Fe (super 3+) (sub 5.292) V (super 5+) (sub 0.118) Nb (sub 0.083) Al (sub 0.026) Cr (super 3+) (sub 0.017) ) (sub Sigma 18.000) O (sub 38) . Mianningite is trigonal, belongs to the space group R3, and has unit-cell parameters a = 10.3462(5) A, c = 20.837(2) A, V = 1931.65 (20) A (super 3) , and Z = 3. The structure was solved (R (sub 1) = 0.070) using reflections with I > 2sigma (I) on a heated crystal; it is isostructural with the other members of the crichtonite group. Mianningite can be considered as the analogue of mapiquiroite with the M0 site preferentially vacant. Its eight strongest X-ray powder-diffraction lines [d in A(I/I (sub 0) )(hkl)] are 2.627(100) (125), 2.144 (100) (135), 3.065(75) (025), 2.254 (70) (028), 1.545(60) (336), 2.883(55) (116), 2.476 (55) (027), and 1.705 (55) (146).