Alicewilsonite-(YLa) mineral

An approved sodium-strontium-yttrium-lanthanum carbonate mineral, IMA 2021-047, with ideal IMA-CNMNC September 2026 formula Na2Sr2YLa(CO3)6(H2O)3. Its suffix denotes dominance at different crystallographic sites, not a bulk elemental ranking. Lykova et al. (2024, Part 4) characterized holotype CMNMC 89063 from the Paratoo copper mine, South Australia; the structure-determination portion is KNR 44330 in Oslo. Table 1 averages seven electron-microprobe analyses: 9.59 wt% Y2O3 and 11.74 wt% La2O3. Measurements used 20 kV, 10 nA and a 30 micrometre beam with beam-instability corrections. Ce was below detection, not demonstrated absent. CO2 and H2O were calculated because material was scarce; infrared data support water qualitatively. The 293 K single-crystal model is triclinic P1, R1 = 0.058, with a 22:78 twin model. La and Dy served as lanthanide scattering proxies; assigned cation occupancies and half-occupied split carbonate/water sites depend on constraints. Poor crystal quality limits localization and hydrogen was not located. Water-site labels in Table 4 and the official CIF differ, so detailed label-specific bonding is not asserted. This species differs from alicewilsonite-(YCe), donnayite-(Y), elements and mixed mine resources. Its natural secondary geological occurrence does not make it a secondary resource. The discussion's inferred Ce fractionation is not a controlled experiment on this mineral; qualitative room-temperature HCl effervescence lacks specified acid concentration, duration and yield. No extraction mechanism, microbial process, industrial deployment or transferred elemental criticality is established here.

Record source: data/records/alicewilsonite-yla.yaml