gsminmag Mineralogical Magazine Mineralogical Magazine 0026-461X Mineralogical Society 10.1180/minmag.1994.058.391.09 Mineralogy Staringite Discredited Groat Lee A. * Putnis Andrew Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, U.K. Kissin Stephen A. Department of Geology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada Scott Ercit T. Canadian Museum of Nature, Mineral Sciences Section, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4, Canada Hawthorne Frank C. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada Gaines Richard V. Rt. 1, Box 69, Earlysville, Virginia 22936, U.S.A.

Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada

 6 1994 58 391 271 277 19 7 1993 Copyright © 1994, The Mineralogical Society 1994 Abstract

Detailed examination of ‘staringite’ by X-ray precession photography and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows it to consist of a sub-microscopic intergrowth of cassiterite and tapiolite. ‘Staringite’ is discredited as a valid mineral species.

 Keywords staringite Ta/Nb oxide minerals pegmatites transmission electron microscopy