Stibiotantalite

Stibiotantalite despite the name is not actually in the Tantalite family, it belongs to the Cervanite family. It does contain Tantalum but its not the primary element. Because of Tantalum it does put this mineral in the lower heavyweight class. Stibiotantalite has a specific gravity as high as 7.5 which is about double the weight of a Diamond of the same size! It is a pyroelectric mineral which generates an electric charge when heated! Similar to Zircon it has a very strong doubling because of its extremely high refractive index so especially with material that has less inclusions you can see double of everything in the stone. With its striking vibrant yellow colors finding gemy material is extremely rare forming in late stage cooling of magma called granite pegmatites!

Hardness: 5 – 5.5
Composition: Sb(Ta,Nb)O₄