WinClbclas, a Windows program for columbite supergroup minerals

Microsoft® Visual Basic software, WinClbclas, has been developed to calculate the chemical formulae of columbite supergroup minerals (CSM) based on data obtained from wet-chemical and electron-microprobe analyses using the current nomenclature scheme adopted by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association for CSM (IMA-23). The program evaluates the 36 IMA-Approved, three questionable in terms of their unit-cell parameters, four insufficiently studied other questionable and one ungrouped species according to the dominant valance and constituent status in five mineral groups including ixiolite (MO2), wolframite (M1M2O4), samarskite (ABM2O8), columbite (M1M2O6) and wodginite (M1M2M32O8) within the CSM. Mineral analyses of the columbite supergroup are calculated based on 24 oxygen atoms per formula unit. However, the formulae of ixiolite to wodginite groups can be estimated by program based on their cation and anion values in their typical mineral formulae (e.g. 4 cations and 8 oxygen for the wodginite group) with normalization procedures. The Fe3+ and Fe2+ contents from microprobe-derived total FeO (wt. %) amounts are estimated by stoichiometric constraints. WinClbclas allows users to: (1) enter up to 47 input variables for mineral-chemical analyses; (2) type and load multiple CSM compositions in the data entry section; (3) edit and load the Microsoft® Excel files used in calculating, classifying, and naming the CSM, together with the total monovalent to hexavalent ion, and (4) store all the calculated parameters in the output of a Microsoft® Excel file for further data evaluations. The program is distributed as a self-extracting setup file, including the necessary support files used by the program, a help file, and representative sample data files.