Milanriederite, (Ca,REE) (sub 19) Fe (super 3+) Al (sub 4) (Mg,Al,Fe (super 3+) ) (sub 8) Si (sub 18) O (sub 68) (OH,O) (sub 1 0) , a new vesuvianite-group mineral from the Kombat Mine, Namibia

Milanriederite, a new vesuvianite-group mineral, was discovered in the Kombat deposit, Grootfontein district, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia, in association with baryte, calcite, jacobsite, hausmannite, glaucochroite and native copper. The new mineral forms dark brownish-red dipyramidal crystals up to 3 mm across. The major crystal form is {111} and the minor forms are {001}, {110}, and {100}. Milanriederite is brittle, has a Mohs' hardness of six and an uneven fracture. Neither cleavage nor parting is observed. D (sub meas) =3.53(2) g/cm (super 3) , D (sub calc) =3.547 g/cm (super 3) . The new mineral is optically uniaxial (-), omega =1.744(3), e=1.737(3). The infrared (IR) spectrum of milanriederite significantly differs from IR spectra of other vesuvianite-group minerals. According to Moessbauer data, all iron in the mineral is trivalent. The chemical composition is (electron microprobe, H (sub 2) O determined by gas chromatography of ignition products, wt%): Na (sub 2) O 0.47, MgO 5.49, CaO 29.86, Mn (sub 2) O (sub 3) 1.40, Al (sub 2) O (sub 3) 9.75, Fe (sub 2) O (sub 3) 6.03, Y (sub 2) O (sub 3) 2.44, La (sub 2) O (sub 3) 4.43, Ce (sub 2) O (sub 3) 0.86, Pr (sub 2) O (sub 3) 0.32, Nd (sub 2) O (sub 3) 1.31, SiO (sub 2) 34.84, H (sub 2) O 2.9, total 100.10. The empirical formula based on 78 O atoms is [Ca (sub 16.48) (La (sub 0.84) Y (sub 0.67) Ce (sub 0.16) Nd (sub 0.24) Pr (sub 0.06) )Na (sub 0.47) ]Sigma (sub 18.92) (Al (sub 5.92) Mg (sub 4.22) Fe (super 3+) (sub 2.34) Mn (super 3+) (sub 0.55) )Sigma (sub 13.03) Si (sub 17.95) O (sub 68.04) (OH) (sub 9.96) . The simplified formula is (Ca,REE) (sub 19) Fe (super 3+) Al (sub 4) (Mg,Al,Fe (super 3+) ) (sub 8) Si (sub 18) O (sub 68) (OH,O) (sub 10) . The crystal structure was refined to R=0.027 for 1684 unique observed reflections with Fo> or =4sigma F. The mineral is tetragonal, P4/nnc, a=15.6578(4), c=11.8597(5) Aa, V=2907.6(2) Aa (super 3) , Z=2. Milanriederite is the analogue of vesuvianite with Mg predominant at the Y3 site. The strongest lines of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are [d, Aa (I, %) (hkl)]: 2.970 (50) (511, 004), 2.774 (100) (204, 432, 440), 2.617 (87) (423, 531, 224, 522), 2.481 (30) (620), 2.143 (19) (315, 641), 1.676 (17) (921, 842, 436), 1.638 (38) (931, 526, 804, 922). The mineral is named in honour of Czech mineralogist Professor Milan Rieder (b. 1940), in recognition to his contributions to mineralogy and his service to the international mineralogical community.