Recent mineral discoveries in the Coronel Murta, Taquaral, and Medina pegmatite fields, northeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The occurrence of five rare minerals in the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, northeastern Minas Gerais, is described and discussed: bergslagite [CaBe(AsO 4)(OH)] from the Manoel Fonseca mine, Coronel Murta county; herderite [CaBe(PO 4)F] from the Funil mine, Medina county; lithiophosphate [Li 3 PO 4 ] from the Cachoeira mine, Araçuaí/Itinga counties; lithiotantite [Li(Ta,Nb) 3 O 8 ] from the Murundu mine, Itinga county; and kosnarite [KZr 2 (PO 4) 3 ] from Mario Pinto mine, Itinga county. The host pegmatites of these minerals, with their respective main chemical and/or mineralogical features are also presented. As a consequence of such discoveries, Raman spectra for lithiotantite and lithiophosphate were made available, and crystal structure refinement for lithiotantite was performed.