neighborite

Neighborite is a mineral composed of a double fluoride salt of sodium and magnesium. It was initially recognized as pink and brown masses of round grains in the Green River Formation South of Ouray, Utah. Originally found in dark dolomitic oil shales, neighborite typically forms as subrounded or octahedral crystals. Neighborite received its name from Frank Neighbor, a geologist for the Sun Oil Co. based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Due to Mr. Neighbor's work in discovering neighborite, along with other newly discovered minerals to the Green River Formation, the mineral was named after him. Neighborite is in the family of perovskite crystal structure minerals, possessing a general formula of ABX3.

==Occurrence== Neighborite is found in association with minerals such as burbankite, nahcolite, wurtzite, barytocalcite, garrelsite, pyrite, calcite, and quartz. The mineral most commonly occurs on top of dark colored dolomitic oil shales. The resulting grains are subrounded in shape. Some neighborite crystals form as inclusions in barytocalcite. Octahedral crystals of neighborite exist in nature, but is generally uncommon relative to the subangular crystals. Neighborite is a rare mineral, only being found in select localities around the world. Regions where neighborite is currently found include select wells in or near Ouray, Utah; Montreal, Quebec; Oslo, Norway; Murmansk Oblast, Russia; Arusha, Tanzania.