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Heamanite-(Ce) (IMA 2020-001), ideally (K0.5Ce0.5)TiO3, is a new perovskite-group mineral found as an inclusion in a diamond from the Gahcho Kué mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It occurs as brown, translucent single crystals with an average maximum dimension of ~80 μm, associated with rutile and calcite. The luster is adamantine, and the fracture conchoidal. Heamanite-(Ce) is the K-analog of loparite-(Ce), ideally (NaCe)Ti2O6. The Mohs hardness is estimated to be 5½ by comparison to loparite-(Ce), and the calculated density is 4.73(1) g/cm3. Electron microprobe wavelength-dispersive spectrometric analysis (average of 34 points) yielded: CaO 10.70, K2O 7.38, Na2O 0.16, Ce2O3 13.77, La2O3 8.22, Pr2O3 0.84, Nd2O3 1.59, SrO 6.69, BaO 2.96, ThO2 0.36, PbO 0.15, TiO2 45.77, Cr2O3 0.32, Al2O3 0.10, Fe2O3 0.09, Nb2O5 0.87, UO3 0.01, total 99.98 wt%. The empirical formula, based on 3 O atoms, is: [(K0.268Na0.009)Σ0.277(Ce0.143La0.086Pr0.009Nd0.016)Σ0.254(Ca0.326Sr0.110Ba0.033Pb0.001)Σ0.470Th0.002]Σ1.003 (Ti0.979Nb0.011Cr0.007Al0.003Fe0.002)Σ1.002O3. The Goldschmidt tolerance factor for this formula is 1.003. Heamanite-(Ce) is cubic, space group Pm3m, with unit-cell parameter a = 3.9129(9) Å, and volume V = 59.91(4) Å3 (Z = 1). The crystal structure was solved using single-crystal X‑ray diffraction data and refined to R1(F) = 2.61%. Heamanite-(Ce) has the aristotypic perovskite structure and adopts the same structure as isolueshite and tausonite. The six strongest diffraction lines are [dobs in angstroms (I in percentages) (hkl)]: 2.764 (100) (110), 1.954 (41) (200), 1.596 (36) (211), 1.045 (16) (321), 1.236 (13) (310), and 1.382 (10) (220). The Raman spectrum of heamanite-(Ce) shows two broad bands at 560 and 787 cm−1, with no bands observed above 1000 cm−1. Heamanite-(Ce) is named after Larry Heaman, a renowned scientist in the field of radiometric dating applied to diamond-bearing kimberlites, mantle-derived eclogites, and lamprophyre dikes. The dominant REE should appear as a Levinson suffix, hence heamanite-(Ce). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goldschmidtite is a new perovskite-group mineral (IMA No. 2018-034) with the ideal formula (K,REE,Sr)(Nb,Cr)O3. A single grain of goldschmidtite with a maximum dimension of ∼100 μm was found as an inclusion in a diamond from the Koffiefontein pipe in South Africa. In addition to the dark green and opaque goldschmidtite, the diamond contained a Cr-rich augite (websteritic paragenesis) and an intergrowth of chromite, Mg-silicate, and unidentified K-Sr-REE-Nb-oxide. Geothermobarometry of the augite indicates that the depth of formation was ∼170 km. The chemical composition of gold-schmidtite determined by electron microprobe analysis (n = 11, WDS, wt%) is: Nb2O5 44.82, TiO2 0.44, ThO2 0.10, Al2O3 0.35, Cr2O3 7.07, La2O3 11.85, Ce2O3 6.18, Fe2O3 1.96, MgO 0.70, CaO 0.04, SrO 6.67, BaO 6.82, K2O 11.53, total 98.53. The empirical formula (expressed to two decimal places) is (K0.50La0.15Sr0.13Ba0.09Ce0.08)Σ0.95(Nb0.70Cr0.19Fe0.05Al0.01Mg0.04Ti0.01)Σ1.00O3. Goldschmidtite is cubic, space group Pm3m, with unit-cell parameters: a = 3.9876(1) Å, V = 63.404(6) Å3, Z = 1, resulting in a calculated density of 5.32(3) g/cm3. Goldschmidtite is the K-analog of isolueshite, (Na,La)NbO3. Raman spectra of goldschmidtite exhibit many second-order broad bands at 100 to 700 cm–1 as well as a pronounced peak at 815 cm–1, which is possibly a result of local ordering of Nb and Cr at the B site. The name goldschmidtite is in honor of the eminent geochemist Victor Moritz Goldschmidt (1888–1947), who formalized perovskite crystal chemistry and identified KNbO3 as a perovskite-structured compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water in Earth's upper mantle is a minor and yet critically important component that dictates mantle properties such as strength and melting behavior. Minerals with stoichiometric water, such as those of the humite group, are important yet poorly characterized potential reservoirs for volatiles in the upper mantle. Here, we report observation of hydroxyl members of the humite group as inclusions in mantle-derived diamond. Hydroxylchondrodite and hydroxylclinohumite were found coexisting with olivine, magnesiochromite, Mg-bearing calcite, dolomite, quartz, mica, and a djerfisherite-group mineral in a diamond from Brazil. The olivine is highly forsteritic (Mg# 97), with non-mantle-like oxygen isotope composition (18O +6.2%), and is associated with fluid inclusions and hydrous minerals--features that could be inherited from a serpentinite protolith. Our results constitute direct evidence for the presence of deserpentinized peridotitic protoliths in subcratonic mantle keels, placing important constraints on the stability of hydrous phases in the mantle and the origin of diamond-forming fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]