Lakargiite CaZrO3 –– the zirconium analog of perovskite [Pbnm, a = 5.556(1), b = 5.715(1), c = 7.960(1) Å, V 252.7(1) Å3, Z = 4] was discovered as an accessory mineral in high-temperature skarns in carbonate-silicate rocks occurring as xenoliths in ignimbrites of the Upper-Chegem (Verkhniy Chegem) volcanic structure, the North Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. Lakargiite forms pseudo-cubic crystals up to 30 35 μm in size and aggregates up to 200 μm. Lakargiite is associated with spurrite, larnite, calcio-olivine, calcite, cuspidine, rondorfite, reinhardbraunsite, wadalite, perovskite, and minerals of the ellestadite group. The new perovskite mineral belongs to the ternary solid solution CaZrO3-CaTiO3-CaSnO3 with a maximum CaZrO3 content of ca. 93%, maximum CaTiO3 content of 22%, and maximum CaSnO3 content of 20%. Significant impurities are Sc, Cr, Fe, Ce, La, Hf, Nb, U, and Th. Raman spectra of lakargiite are similar to those of the synthetic phase Ca(Zr,Ti)O3 with strong bands at 352, 437, 446, 554, and 748 cm−1. Lakargiite crystallized under sanidinite-facies conditions of contact metamorphism characterized by very high temperatures and low pressures.

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