Category
page 1Minerals described in 2012
hollandite
Hollandite (chemical formula: Ba(Mn4+6Mn3+2)O16) is a manganese oxide mineral. Its structure consists of double chains of MnO6 octahedra delimiting 2 × 2 tunnels. The electrostatic charge created by the Mn3+ for Mn4+ substitution is balanced by cations in the tunnels. Their nature determines the mineral species: Ba for hollandite, K for cryptomelane, Pb for coronadite, Sr for strontiomelane, Tl for thalliomelane, and Na for manjiroite. Pure species are rare and most 2 × 2 tectomanganates contain mixtures of several types of tunnel cations.
wassonite
Wassonite is a scarce titanium sulfide mineral with the chemical formula TiS. Its discovery was announced in a 2011 NASA press release as a single small grain within an enstatite chondrite meteorite called "Yamato 691", which was found during a 1969 Japanese expedition to Antarctica. This grain represents the first observation in nature of the synthetic compound titanium(II) sulfide.
linzhiite
Linzhiite is an iron silicide mineral with the formula FeSi2. It was discovered in the 1960s in Donetsk Oblast in Soviet Union, and named ferdisilicite, but was not approved by the International Mineralogical Association. It was later rediscovered near Linzhi in Tibet. Linzhiite occurs together with other rare iron silicide minerals, xifengite (Fe5Si3) and naquite (FeSi).
magnesio-hastingsite
Magnesiohastingsite is a calcium-containing amphibole and a member of the hornblende group. It is an inosilicate (chain silicate) with the formula NaCa2(Mg4Fe3+)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2 and molar mass 864.69 g. In synthetic magnesiohastingsite it appears that iron occurs both as ferrous iron Fe2+ and as ferric iron Fe3+, but the ideal formula features only ferric iron. It was named in 1928 by Marland P. Billings. The name is for its relationship to hastingsite and its magnesium content. Hastingsite was named for the locality in Dungannon Township, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada.
naquite
Naquite is a mineral of iron monosilicide, FeSi. It was discovered in the 1960s in Donetsk Oblast in Soviet Union, and named fersilicite, but was not approved by the International Mineralogical Association. It was later rediscovered in the Nagqu area of Tibet and given the name naquite. Naquite occurs together with other rare iron silicide minerals, xifengite (Fe5Si3) and linzhiite (FeSi2).
billwiseite
Billwiseite is a very rare oxide mineral found at the pegmatite commonly referred to as "Stak Nala" located within a few hundred yards from the village of Toghla in the Stak Nala, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It has only been found as a coating on a single crystal of lepidolite. The sole rock containing Billwiseite is kept at the Royal Ontario Museum, catalogue number M5595.
falsterite
Falsterite is a rare phosphate mineral with the formula Ca2MgMn2+2(Fe2+0.5Fe3+0.5)4Zn4(PO4)8(OH)4(H2O)14. It is a pegmatitic mineral, related to the currently approved mineral ferraioloite.