Cerianite-(Ce)

Tiny cerianite-bearing grains (points 2-5) as shown in a scanning electron microscope image using a back-scattered electron detector. Point 1 is a hematite grain. From the Ridge Granite Quarry, southwest of Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin. *(Image courtesy Tom Buchholz.)*

Formula: CeO₂ Isometric

Description:

Cerianite-(Ce) is a rare mineral occurring especially in zones where other rare-earth element-bearing minerals such as rhabdophane are exposed to secondary alteration or weathering.

MARATHON COUNTY: Cerianite-(Ce) was found as extremely tiny grains intergrown with clay minerals in the pegmatite exposed briefly in 2011 along Woodland Drive in Stettin Township (Buchholz, Falster, and Simmons, 2013; Buchholz and Simmons, 2015).

Cerianite was found in very small grains in the Ridge Granite Quarry, where it is associated with hematite in miarolitic cavities in the granite of the Nine Mile Pluton (Buchholz and Simmons, 2015).