Pyrochlore

pyrochlore, a complex oxide mineral [(Na, Ca)₂Nb₂O₆(OH,F)] composed of niobium, sodium, and calcium that forms brown to black, glassy octahedral crystals and irregular masses. Tantalum atoms replace niobium atoms in the chemical structure, so that pyrochlore forms a solid-solution series with the mineral microlite [(Na,Ca)₂Ta₂O₆(O,OH,F)]. For detailed physical properties, see oxide mineral (table).

Pyrochlore is found in alkaline rocks, their associated pegmatites, in metamorphic contact zones, and in greisen (a type of granite composed chiefly of quartz and light green mica). Such rocks have been recognized at Stavern and Lurvik, Nor.; Alnö, Swed.; Brocq en Menet, Fr.; and in Maine, Wisconsin, California, and Colorado, U.S. Microlite occurs in the albitized zones of granite pegmatites, as at Låndas, Nor.; Varuträsk, Swed.; Igaliko, Greenland; and in Connecticut, U.S.