Lueshite

specimen number:
2133418

location:
Lueshe, North Kivu, DR Congo

description:
A good example for the species, a loose cubic crystal without matrix. From the type locality.

The Lueshe carbonatite complex, located in the Rutshuru Territory of North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is an alkaline-carbonatite intrusion composed primarily of cancrinite syenite and calcite-dolomite carbonatite. Weathering of the carbonatite formed residual lateritic soils containing concentrations of niobium-bearing pyrochlore and kalipyrochlore. Industrial open-pit mining operations at the site began in 1982 under the joint venture Societe Miniere du Kivu. Production of niobium concentrates continued until 1993, when regional conflict caused operations to halt under a declaration of force majeure. Control of the site has since been contested, with intermittent extraction occurring between 1998 and 2005 under rebel factions, followed by periodic short-term mining efforts through the 2000s and 2010s until the government canceled the mining license in 2016.

Lueshite is a rare sodium niobium oxide mineral belonging to the perovskite group. It was discovered at the Lueshe carbonatite complex in 1959 by geologist Alexandre Safiannikoff and is named after this type locality. The mineral typically occurs as opaque, black to reddish-brown pseudo-cubic crystals, forming at the contact zones between the cancrinite syenite and the carbonatite rock.

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