Niobocarbide is an extremely rare niobium carbide, typically yellow to straw-yellow. It occurs as grains in platinum placer concentrates, and is the niobium-dominant analogue of tantalcarbide.
Is this niobocarbide?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch niobocarbide with a known reference. Niobocarbide sits at Mohs ~5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: brownish black.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: submetallic.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: yellow, straw yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: hexagonal. Typical habit: inclusions.
Often confused with
Niobocarbide vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside niobocarbide
Minerals reported to co-occur with niobocarbide. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- NbC
- Mohs hardness
- ~5
- Density
- 4.65 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Brownish black
- Luster
- Submetallic
- Transparency
- Opaque, slightly translucent in thin fragments
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Crystal habit
- Inclusions
- Cleavage
- None
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Research, Collector
- Host rock
- In hydrothermal uranium deposits (Saskatchewan, Canada); in gold deposits in metamorphosed greenstones (Kalgoorlie, Western Australia)
Where rockhounds find niobocarbide
Classic worldwide localities
- Wild Steer Canyon, Paradox Valley, Montrose Co., Colorado, and in the Campbell mine, Bisbee, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA
- Fish-Hook Bay, Lake Athabaska, and at the Ace mine, the Consolidated Nicholson Mine No. 2, and the Pitche claims, Beaverlodge Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Mounana uranium mine, Franceville, Gabon
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: In hydrothermal uranium deposits (Saskatchewan, Canada); in gold deposits in metamorphosed greenstones (Kalgoorlie, Western Australia). If you start seeing dolomite, calcite, quartz in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: inclusions. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify niobocarbide?+
Where is niobocarbide found?+
What rocks look like niobocarbide?+
What minerals are found with niobocarbide?+
What kind of rock does niobocarbide form in?+
What is niobocarbide used for?+
Find niobocarbide on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
