Hafnon
Hafnon is a hafnium nesosilicate mineral with the idealized chemical formula. It is the mineral form of hafnium silicate and one of the few known minerals with essential hafnium.
Chemistry
Hafnon forms a solid-solution series with its zirconium counterpart, zircon. Several other variants exist, with compositions such as. In nature, part of zirconium is replaced by the chemically similar hafnium, so natural zircon is never pure. However, a zircon with 100% hafnium substitution can be synthesized and is known as hafnon.Hafnon occurs as transparent red to red-orange tetragonal crystals, with a Moh's hardness of 7.5.
Hafnon occurs naturally in tantalum-bearing granite pegmatites in Zambezia, and in weathered pegmatites at Mount Holland, Western Australia. It has also been reported at locations in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba, Canada; North Carolina, United States, and Zimbabwe.