Tausonite

Tausonite is the rare naturally occurring mineral form of strontium titanate: chemical formula: SrTiO₃. It occurs as red to orange brown cubic crystals and crystal masses.

Tausonite
General
Category	Oxide mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	SrTiO3
IMA symbol	Tau[1]
Strunz classification	4.CC.35
Crystal system	Cubic
Crystal class	Hexoctahedral (m3m) H-M symbol: (4/m 3 2/m)
Space group	Pm3m
Unit cell	a = 3.9 Å; Z = 1
Identification
Color	Red, red-brown, orange, dark gray
Crystal habit	Cubic and octahedral crystals, granular, massive
Cleavage	None
Fracture	Conchoidal
Tenacity	Brittle
Mohs scale hardness	6-6.5
Luster	Adamantine
Diaphaneity	Translucent to opaque
Specific gravity	4.88
Optical properties	Isotropic
Refractive index	n = 2.40
References	[2][3][4]

It is a member of the perovskite group.

It was first described in 1982 for an occurrence in a syenite intrusive in Tausonite Hill, Murun Massif, Olyokma-Chara Plateau, Sakha Republic, Yakutia, geologically part of the Aldan Shield, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia.[2] It was named for Russian geochemist Lev Vladimirovich Tauson (1917–1989).[4] It has also been reported from a fenite dike associated with a carbonatite complex in Sarambi, Concepción Department, Paraguay.[3] and in high pressure metamorphic rocks along the Kotaki River area of Honshu Island, Japan.[2]