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⇱ The mineralogy of Cerium

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The mineralogy of Cerium

General Properties
Symbol:Ce
Commodity pages:Cerium
Atomic Number:58
Standard atomic weight (Ar):140.116(1)
Electron configuration:[Xe] 4f1 5d1 6s2
Photos
<
Cerium under Argon in a vial
>
Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):1.12
Atomic Radius:181.8 pm
Ionic Radius:102 pm (+3)
1st Ionization energy:534 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-50 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:2,3,4
Physical Properties
Standard State:solid
Bonding Type:metallic
Melting Point:1071 K
Boiling Point:3633 K
Density:6.69 g/cm3
Metal/Non-Metal:lanthanoid
Main isotopes of Cerium
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
134Cesynthetic3.16dε134La
136Ce0.185%>3.8×1016yβ+β+ ?136Ba
138Ce0.251%>1.5×1014yβ+β+ ?138Ba
140Ce88.450%-Spontaneous fission ?
141Cesynthetic32.501dβ−141Pr
142Ce11.114%>5×1016yβ-β- ?142Nd
α ?138Ba
144Cesynthetic284.893dβ−144Pr
Main ions of Cerium
NameIonExample minerals
cerium(III)Ce3+
cerium(IV)Ce4+
Other Information
Year Discovered:1803
Discovered By:
👁 09428580017362063164431.jpg
Martin Heinrich Klaproth


Martin Heinrich Klaproth, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Wilhelm Hisinger
Year Isolated:1839
Isolated By:
Named For:
CPK color coding:#FFFFC7
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Nitridescerium nitrideCeN+3
Sulfidescerium sulphideCeS+2
dicerium trisulphideCe2S3+3
Hydridescerium dihydrideCeH2+2
Fluoridescerium difluorideCeF2+2
cerium trifluorideCeF3+3Fluocerite-(Ce)
cerium tetrafluoride CeF^44
Chloridescerium trichlorideCeCl3+3
cerium trichloride trihydrateCeCl3 · 3H2O+3
cerium trichloride heptahydrateCeCl3 · 7H2O+3
Iodidescerium diiodideCeI2+2
cerium triiodideCeI3+3
Oxidescerium dioxideCeO2+4
dicerium trioxideCe2O3+3
Mineral Diversity of Cerium
3. Halides4 valid mineral species
4. Oxides 12 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates 26 valid mineral species
6. Borates2 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates 4 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates19 valid mineral species
9. Silicates 86 valid mineral species
10. Organic Compounds3 valid mineral species
Total:156 valid species containing essential Cerium
Minerals with the greatest weight % of Cerium
Cerianite-(Ce)(Ce4+,Th)O281.41 %
Håleniusite-(Ce)(Ce,La)OF80.01 %
Fluocerite-(Ce)CeF371.08 %
Britholite-(Ce)(Ce,Ca)5(SiO4)3OH70.49 %
Melanocerite-(Ce)(Ce,Ca)5(SiO4,BO4)3(OH,O)70.49 %
Tritomite-(Ce)Ce5(SiO4,BO4)3(OH,O)70.49 %
Fluorbritholite-(Ce)(Ce,Ca)5(SiO4)3F70.35 %
Hydroxylbastnäsite-(Ce)Ce(CO3)(OH)64.53 %
Calcioancylite-(Ce)(Ce,Ca,Sr)CO3(OH,H2O)64.53 %
Bastnäsite-(Ce)Ce(CO3)F63.94 %
Geochemistry of Cerium
Goldschmidt classification:Lithophile
Ce4+ was one of the ions least depleted from the mantle in the formation of the crust.
Ce3+ was one of the ions least depleted from the mantle in the formation of the crust.
Ce4+ is enriched in Ca-Al-rich inclusions in meteorites relative to the composition of the solar system.
Ce3+ is enriched in Ca-Al-rich inclusions in meteorites relative to the composition of the solar system.
Ce4+ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)
Ce3+ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)
Elemental Abundance for Cerium
Crust (CRC Handbook)6.65 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)8.3 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)6.6 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)3.3000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)5.4200 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Weaver)5.7000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)6.4000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Shaw)6.5000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)1.2 x 10-12mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)1.2 x 10-12mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)1.0 x 10-6atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)1.1 x 10-6atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)1.136 x 10-6 (1.7%)atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Cerium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Cerium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Cerium and the element listed for that row.

The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Cerium.

The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row.

Click on a heading to sort.
ElementValid Minerals listed with element and Cerium% of Ce mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Oxygen190 minerals with Ce and O98.96%21.93% higher
Hydrogen106 minerals with Ce and H55.21%0.91% lower
Silicon101 minerals with Ce and Si52.60%90.59% higher
Calcium83 minerals with Ce and Ca43.23%73.64% higher
Sodium61 minerals with Ce and Na31.77%70.08% higher
Fluorine52 minerals with Ce and F27.08%243.24% higher
Carbon48 minerals with Ce and C25.00%205.61% higher
Iron47 minerals with Ce and Fe24.48%8.97% higher
Titanium39 minerals with Ce and Ti20.31%189.31% higher
Aluminium38 minerals with Ce and Al19.79%0.64% lower
Lanthanum33 minerals with Ce and La17.19%1,155.70% higher
Manganese28 minerals with Ce and Mn14.58%25.09% higher
Barium25 minerals with Ce and Ba13.02%179.79% higher
Magnesium21 minerals with Ce and Mg10.94%18.07% lower
Strontium21 minerals with Ce and Sr10.94%285.92% higher
Phosphorus20 minerals with Ce and P10.42%15.33% lower
Neodymium18 minerals with Ce and Nd9.38%998.47% higher
Niobium16 minerals with Ce and Nb8.33%170.94% higher
Boron15 minerals with Ce and B7.81%55.00% higher
Yttrium12 minerals with Ce and Y6.25%169.53% higher
Zirconium11 minerals with Ce and Zr5.73%137.19% higher
Arsenic11 minerals with Ce and As5.73%55.86% lower
Thorium10 minerals with Ce and Th5.21%688.87% higher
Potassium9 minerals with Ce and K4.69%53.05% lower
Beryllium7 minerals with Ce and Be3.65%68.96% higher
Uranium7 minerals with Ce and U3.65%28.80% lower
Sulfur6 minerals with Ce and S3.13%85.82% lower
Chlorine6 minerals with Ce and Cl3.13%57.72% lower
Vanadium5 minerals with Ce and V2.60%45.91% lower
Zinc5 minerals with Ce and Zn2.60%53.66% lower
Copper4 minerals with Ce and Cu2.08%84.65% lower
Chromium3 minerals with Ce and Cr1.56%15.63% lower
Tantalum3 minerals with Ce and Ta1.56%34.77% higher
Tungsten3 minerals with Ce and W1.56%73.27% higher
Lead2 minerals with Ce and Pb1.04%90.35% lower
Lithium1 mineral with Ce and Li0.52%73.70% lower
Molybdenum1 mineral with Ce and Mo0.52%67.00% lower
Caesium1 mineral with Ce and Cs0.52%1.99% lower
Praseodymium1 mineral with Ce and Pr0.52%3,134.38% higher
Samarium1 mineral with Ce and Sm0.52%439.06% higher
Periodic Table
1H 2He
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
19K 20Ca 21Sc 22Ti 23V 24Cr 25Mn 26Fe 27Co 28Ni 29Cu 30Zn 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
37Rb 38Sr 39Y 40Zr 41Nb 42Mo 43Tc 44Ru 45Rh 46Pd 47Ag 48Cd 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe
55Cs 56Ba 57La 72Hf 73Ta 74W 75Re 76Os 77Ir 78Pt 79Au 80Hg 81Tl 82Pb 83Bi 84Po 85At 86Rn
87Fr 88Ra 89Ac 104Rd 105Db 106Sg 107Bh 108Hs 109Mt 110Ds 111Rg 112Cn 113Nh 114Fl 115Mc 116Lv 117Ts 118Og
58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 61Pm 62Sm 63Eu 64Gd 65Tb 66Dy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm 70Yb 71Lu
90Th 91Pa 92U 93Np 94Pu 95Am 96Cm 97Bk 98Cf 99Es 100Fm 101Md 102No 103Lr
Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Ce Relative Frequency
Lanthanum << Cerium >> Praseodymium


Most widespread minerals containing Cerium
This list of minerals containing Cerium is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Cerium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
Monazite-(Ce)Ce(PO4)Monoclinic1341
Allanite-(Ce)(CaCe)(AlAlFe2+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)Monoclinic943
Bastnäsite-(Ce)Ce(CO3)FHexagonal459
Synchysite-(Ce)CaCe(CO3)2FMonoclinic349
Parisite-(Ce)CaCe2(CO3)3F2Monoclinic169
Britholite-(Ce)(Ce,Ca)5(SiO4)3OHHexagonal160
Cerianite-(Ce)(Ce4+,Th)O2Isometric160
Ancylite-(Ce)CeSr(CO3)2(OH) · H2OOrthorhombic137
Chevkinite-(Ce)Ce4(Ti,Fe2+,Fe3+)5O8(Si2O7)2Monoclinic131
Rhabdophane-(Ce)Ce(PO4) · 0.6H2OTrigonal104
Photos

Localities with greatest number of different Cerium mineral species
1Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada42 Ce minerals
2Mochalin Log, Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia32 Ce minerals
3Ust'-Biraya, Biraya Fe-REE ore occurrence, Biraya and Bya Rivers confluence area (Chara Basin), Vitim Plateau, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia19 Ce minerals
4Bayan Obo deposit, Bayan Obo mining district, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, China17 Ce minerals
Ditrău Complex, Harghita County, Romania17 Ce minerals
6Nya Bastnäs deposit, Bastnäs Mines, Riddarhyttan, Skinnskatteberg, Västmanland County, Sweden17 Ce minerals
7East Mine, Bayan Obo deposit, Bayan Obo mining district, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, China16 Ce minerals
8Dara-i-Pioz Massif, Districts of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan15 Ce minerals


Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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