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Lanthanite-(Ce) mineral

Lanthanite-(Ce) is the cerium-dominant lanthanite mineral, approved as IMA 1983-055, with ideal formula Ce2(CO3)3(H2O)6·2H2O, equivalently Ce2(CO3)3·8H2O. It is distinct from elemental cerium, cerianite, the lanthanite group and rare-earth ores or commodities. Bevins et al. (1985) characterized natural plates from oxidized copper ore at Britannia Mine, North Wales. Their measured mixed-REE composition gave the empirical cation terms Ce0.78La0.55Nd0.55Sm0.09Gd0.05Y0.04 on the reported 17-oxygen basis, with 7.96H2O; it is not a pure Ce end-member or an ore-grade measurement. Water was determined thermogravimetrically, carbon dioxide by CHN analysis and rare-earth composition by electron microprobe; sample deterioration limited analytical totals. Diffraction indicated orthorhombic Pbnb, a nonstandard setting of Pccn. Atencio et al. (1989) also found their historically labelled Bastnäs lanthanite specimen to be Ce-dominant. The mechanism below concerns separately synthesized Ce carbonate phases and does not establish microbial weathering of these natural specimens, industrial recovery or a dated criticality designation.

Identifiers & Classification

System Identifier Label
IMA IMA:1983-055 Lanthanite-(Ce)

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

Abiotic transformation of synthetic Ce carbonate phases at 35 °C

other

In sealed synthetic-solution experiments at 35 °C, powder X-ray diffraction quantified a progression from lanthanite and kozoite-type Ce carbonate to cerianite. Table 2 and Figure 2b agree on 66 wt% lanthanite and 34 wt% kozoite at 24 h; 7 wt% lanthanite, 86 wt% kozoite and 7 wt% cerianite at 192 h; and 100 wt% cerianite among the quantified crystalline phases at 865 h. These fitted phase fractions are not a mass balance for all dissolved and solid Ce, an extraction efficiency or isolated-metal recovery. The authors propose dissolution-recrystallization with Ce(III) oxidation; the diffraction and microscopy observations do not independently establish every molecular step or oxidant source.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Laboratory abiotic study by Terribili et al. (2025), starting from 40 mL of 50 mM Ce nitrate solution mixed with 40 mL of 50 mM Na2CO3 solution in a glass reactor, pre-equilibrated to 35 °C, then sealed and held static at that temperature. Successive 5 mL suspension samples were filtered at 0.2 micrometre, rinsed with isopropanol and air-dried before XRD; phases were quantified using TOPAS Rietveld analysis. Table 2 identifies one reactor for this arm; the two ambient-temperature replicas described in Methods are not assumed for 35 °C. Temperature and time-series arms are comparators, with no inoculum or microbial control experiment. At 5 °C, lanthanite alone was reported among crystalline phases at the sampled times from 28 to 147 h, so the 35 °C pathway is not transferred to all conditions. Table 2 and Figure 2b disagree at 526 h (1/71/28 versus 2/71/27 wt% lanthanite/kozoite/ cerianite); Table 2 and Figure 2c also disagree for the separate 50 °C, 145 h endpoint (1 wt% kozoite plus 99 wt% cerianite versus 100 wt% cerianite). Those disputed endpoints are not used as curated outcomes. Uncertainty for the reported phase fractions and a controlled oxidant comparison are not supplied. No natural ore feed, biological mediation or industrial demonstration is shown.
Curated Evidence Points:
Methods page 946 specifies the mixing, static incubation, sample processing and diffraction quantification. Table 2 page 950 and Figure 2b page 949 support the selected 35 °C time points; Figure 9 shows cerianite crystals on carbonate surfaces at 192 and 360 h. Discussion pages 958-959 proposes dissolution-recrystallization and oxidation, rather than measuring their complete causal sequence. The cold-arm null for cerianite and the unselected endpoint discrepancies limit generalization; the paper's practical extraction motivation does not itself demonstrate recovery.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Definitions PDF page 1 and Lanthanite-(Ce) row page 121: Ce2(CO3)3(H2O)6·2H2O; A; 1983-055; United Kingdom. Official homepage and downloaded list checked 16 October 2026.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. bevins1985: Bevins RE, Rowbotham G, Stephens FS, Turgoose S and Williams PA (1985). Lanthanite-(Ce), (Ce,La,Nd)2(CO3)3·8H2O, a new mineral from Wales, U.K. American Mineralogist 70:411-413. Complete three-page original, Figure 1 and Tables 1-3 inspected. Table 1 reports five-analysis averages; preparation/probe deterioration and the need for chemical distinction among lanthanites are explicit. No verified DOI assigned here; the 2017 portal date is not publication.
    https://www.rruff.net/doclib/am/vol70/AM70_411.pdf (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. atencio1989: Atencio D, Bevins RE, Fleischer M, Williams CT and Williams PA (1989). Revision of the lanthanite group and new data for specimens from Bastnäs, Sweden, and Bethlehem, USA. Mineralogical Magazine 53:639-642. DOI 10.1180/minmag.1989.053.373.17. Complete original, Table 1 analysis 15 and Figure 1 inspected; Bastnäs specimen B10531 is Ce-dominant, with beam-damage limitations retained.
    https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.1989.053.373.17 (accessed 2026-10-16)
  4. terribili2025: Terribili L, Szucs AM, Maddin M, Zubovic KP, Rateau R and Rodriguez-Blanco JD (2025). Mechanistic Insights into the Early-Stage Crystallization and Nanophase Formation of Metastable Light Rare-Earth Carbonates. Crystal Growth & Design 25:945-962. DOI 10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01168. Complete 18-page published article, Methods pages 946-948, Tables 1-5, Figures 1-14 and eight-page Supporting Information 10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01168.s001 inspected. Selected Ce conditions are Table 2 and Figure 2b; nearby numeric conflicts are retained rather than silently normalized.
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01168 (accessed 2026-10-16)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-16T01:33:37Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Added distinct mineral identity and bounded abiotic phase-transformation evidence, retaining natural/synthetic boundaries, source discrepancies and unsupported criticality/microbial claims absent.

Record source: data/records/lanthanite-ce.yaml