Yarlongite:A New Metallic Carbide Mineral

Yarlongite occurs in ophiolitic chromitite at the Luobusha mine (29°5′N 92°5′E,about 200 km ESE of Lhasa),Qusum County,Shannan Prefecture,Tibet Autonomous Region,People's Republic of China.Associated minerals are:diamond,moissanite,wiistite,iridium ("osmiridium"), osmium ("iridosmine"),periclase,chromite,native iron,native nickel,native chromium,forsterite, Cr-rich diopside,intermetallic compounds Ni-Fe-Cr,Ni-Cr,Cr-C,etc.Yarlongite and its associated minerals were handpicked from a large heavy mineral sa...     

Yarlongite: A New Metallic Carbide Mineral

Yarlongite occurs in ophiolitic chromitite at the Luobusha mine (29°5′N 92°5′E, about 200 km ESE of Lhasa), Qusum County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China. Associated minerals are: diamond, moissanite, wüstite, iridium (“osmiridium”), osmium (“iridosmine”), periclase, chromite, native iron, native nickel, native chromium, forsterite, Cr-rich diopside, intermetallic compounds Ni-Fe-Cr, Ni-Cr, Cr-C, etc. Yarlongite and its associated minerals were handpicked from a large heavy mineral sample of chromitite. The metallic carbides associated with yarlongite are cohenite, tongbaite, khamrabaevite and qusongite (IMA2007-034). Yarlongite occurs as irregular grains, with a size between 0.02 and 0.06 mm, steel-grey colour, H Mohs: 5?-6. Tenacity: brittle. Cleavage: {0 0 1} perfect. Fracture: conchoidal. Chemical formula: (Cr4Fe4Ni)Σ9C4, or (Cr,Fe,Ni)Σ9C4, Crystal system: Hexagonal, Space Group: P63/mc, a = 18.839(2) ?, c = 4.4960 (9) ?, V = 745.7(2) ?3, Z = 6, Density (calc.) = 7.19 g/cm3 (with simplified formula). Yarlongite has been approved as a new mineral by the CNMNC (IMA2007-035). Holotype material is deposited at the Geological Museum of China (No. M11650).