Brabantite Mineral Data +

Excalibur Minerals

General Brabantite Information
Chemical Formula:	CaTh(PO4)2
Composition:	Molecular Weight = 462.06 gm
	Calcium      8.67 %  Ca   12.14 % CaO
	Thorium     50.22 %  Th   57.14 % ThO2
	Phosphorus  13.41 %  P    30.72 % P2O5
	Oxygen      27.70 %  O
	______        ______
	100.00 %      100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE
Empirical Formula:	CaTh(PO4)2
Environment:	In a zoned granite pegmatite.
IMA Status:	Approved IMA 1980
Locality:	In the Van der Made pegmatite, Brabant Farm, west of Itiro, Karibib district, Namibia. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:	For the Brabant Farm, Namibia, location of the pegmatite where the mineral was first found.
Synonym:	Lingaitukuang
Brabantite Image
Images:	Brabantite Comments: Altering micro grain of brabantite. Location: Kuttakuzhi, near Trivandrum, Travancore, Kerala, India. Scale: See Photo. © Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species
Brabantite Crystallography
Axial Ratios:	a:b:c =0.9701:1:0.9299
Cell Dimensions:	a = 6.726, b = 6.933, c = 6.447, Z = 2; beta = 103.883° V = 291.85 Den(Calc)= 5.26
Crystal System:	Monoclinic - SphenoidalH-M Symbol (2) Space Group: P 21
X Ray Diffraction:	By Intensity(I/Io): 3.06(1), 2.85(0.75), 3.26(0.7),
Physical Properties of Brabantite
Cleavage:	[100] Good, [001] Good
Color:	Gray brown, Reddish brown.
Density:	4.72
Diaphaniety:	Transparent to Translucent
Hardness:	5.5 - Knife Blade
Luster:	Vitreous - Resinous
Optical Properties of Brabantite
Gladstone-Dale:	CI meas= 0.127 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC) CI calc= 0.217 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC) KPDcalc= 0.1388,KPDmeas= 0.1547,KC= 0.1771
Optical Data:	Biaxial (?), b=1.73
Calculated Properties of Brabantite
Electron Density:	relectron=4.17 gm/cc note: rBrabantite =4.72 gm/cc.
Fermion Index	Fermion Index = 0.00025 Boson Index = 0.99975
Photoelectric:	PEBrabantite =1,198.21 barns/electron U=PEBrabantite x relectron=4,993.89 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:	GRapi = 945,983.42 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) Brabantite is Radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. Greater than 70 Bq / gram. Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 10 cm box) 32.15 ± 8.04 grams of pure Brabantite . Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 100 cm box) 3215.3 ±803.84 grams of pure Brabantite . Estimated Radioactivity from Brabantite - strong Specimen Size Weight/Volume (Sphere) * Calculated Activity Bequerols (Bq) Calculated Activity Curies (Ci) Estimated Activity GR(api) Estimated Exposure (mRem**)/hr If Held in Hand For One Hour 1000 gm / 7.40 cm 22,497,798 6.08E-04 945,983.42 311.01 100 gm / 3.43 cm 2,249,780 6.08E-05 94,598.34 31.10 10 gm / 1.59 cm 224,978 6.08E-06 9,459.83 3.11 1 gm / 7.40 mm 22,498 6.08E-07 945.98 0.31 0.1 gm / 3.43 mm 2,250 6.08E-08 94.60 0.03 0.01 gm / 1.59 mm 225 6.08E-09 9.46 0.00 0.001 gm / 0.74 mm 22 6.08E-10 0.95 0.00 Weight of pure Brabantite in grams (gm) and Calculated Diameter of a Sphere with a Density of 4.72 gm/cc.* Goverment Estimate of Average Annual Exposure ( 360 mRem) ** Note: 10 microsieverts/hr = 1 mRem/hr ** Max Permissable Adult Dose 50,000 mRem/yr (hands), 15,000 mRem/yr (eyes) Lethal Dose LD(50) Exposure 400,000 to 500,000 mRem
Brabantite Classification
Dana Class:	38.4.3.4 (38)Anhydrous Phosphates, etc
	(38.4)A+ XO4
	(38.4.3)Monazite Group (Monoclinic: P21/n)
	38.4.3.1 Monazite-(Ce) (Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4 P 21/n 2/m
	38.4.3.2 Monazite-(La) (La,Ce,Nd)PO4 P 21/n 2/m
	38.4.3.3 Cheralite-(Ce) (Ce,Ca,Th)(P,Si)O4 P 21/n 2/m
	38.4.3.4 Brabantite CaTh(PO4)2 P 21 2
	38.4.3.5 Monazite-(Nd) (Nd,Ce,La)(P,Si)O4 P 21/n 2/m
	38.4.3.6 Gasparite-(Ce) CeAsO4 P 21/n 2/m
	38.4.3.7 Monazite-(Sm)! SmPO4 P 21/n 2/m
Strunz Class:	VII/A.15-50 VII - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates
	VII/A - Waterfree phosphates [PO4]3- without unfamiliar anions, cations of very big size: Ca, Na and andre
	VII/A.15 - Monazite group
	VII/A.15-10 Monazite-(La) (La,Ce,Nd)PO4 P 21/n 2/m
	VII/A.15-20 Monazite-(Ce) (Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4 P 21/n 2/m
	VII/A.15-30 Monazite-(Nd) (Nd,Ce,La)(P,Si)O4 P 21/n 2/m
	VII/A.15-35 Monazite-(Sm)! SmPO4 P 21/n 2/m
	VII/A.15-40 Cheralite-(Ce) (Ce,Ca,Th)(P,Si)O4 P 21/n 2/m
	VII/A.15-50 Brabantite CaTh(PO4)2 P 21 2
Other Brabantite Information
References:	NAME( AntBidBlaNic4) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)
See Also:	Links to other databases for Brabantite : 1 -Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database 2 -Athena 3 - EUROmin Project 4 -Google Images 5 -Google Scholar 6 -Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA) 7 -MinDAT 8 -MinMax(Deutsch) 9 -MinMax(English) 10 -Mineralienatlas (Deutsch) 11 -QUT Mineral Atlas 12 - Uranium Minerals 13 - WWW-MINCRYST 14 -École des Mines de Paris Search for Brabantite using:   Web webmineral.com [ALTAVISTA] [AOL] [All-The-Web] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [MAMMA] [MSN.COM] [Netscape] [Scirus] [Teoma] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO] Visit our Advertisers for Brabantite : AA Mineral Specimens B & L Fine Minerals Crystal Vaults Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals Dan Weinrich Auctions e-Rocks Auctions Excalibur Minerals Exceptional Minerals Fabre Minerals Greenside Minerals Heliodor John Betts Fine Minerals Mason's Minerals Mineral News Mineral of the Month Club MineralsWeb Fine Minerals Rockshop.cz T G Fine Minerals Wrights Rock Shop Translate Brabantite Mineral Data : Ask about Brabantite here : Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America Mindat.org's Discussion Groups Original Rockhounds Discussion Group Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español Print or Cut-and-Paste your Brabantite Specimen Label here : Brabantite CaTh(PO4)2 Dana No: 38.4.3.4 Strunz No: VII/A.15-50 Locality:   Notes: