Cerite-(Ce) is yet another extremely rare species at Mont Saint-Hilaire. The crystals may be rounded on the corners. Visual identification is sometimes difficult with catapleiite and an unusual platy habit of rhodochrosite.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
- Color ranges from rose-red to pink.
- Luster is vitreous.
- Diaphaneity is transparent.
- Crystal System is hexagonal; R3c.
- Crystal Habits include hexagonal plates forming rosette-like groups.
- Cleavage is not apparent.
- Fracture is uneven.
- Hardness is 5.5
- Specific Gravity is approximately 4.7 – 4.9 g/cm3.
- Streak is white.
- Associated Minerals include aegirine, albite, apatite group, calcite,
catapleiite, fluorite, helvite, microcline, natrolite and tundrite. - Distinguishing Features: Crystal habit and color.
- Origin: Named in 1803 to honor the discovery in 1801 of the
asteroid Ceres.
Dana class # | 52.4.6.1 – Nesosilicates: insular SiO4 groups and O, OH, F, and H2O |
Strunz class # | VIII/B.19-40 – Silicates; nesosilicates; |