For 2023 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to batoniite. The mineral was discovered in a sample collected at the Cetine di Cotorniano mine, Siena Province, Tuscany, Italy, and was fully characterized by a research team lead by Daniela Mauro from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
Lazaraskeite (2022 the Mineral of the Year)
For 2022 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to lazaraskeite. The mineral was discovered in the area of Oro Valley, north of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA. It was found and fully characterized by a research team lead by Hexiong Yang, from the Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0077, USA.
More precisely lazaraskeite was found on the western end of Pusch Ridge, in the high elevation (975 m) of the Santa Catalina Mountains. where it occurs as individual crystals up to 0.2×0.2×0.8 mm or as aggregates. Crystals have a greenish-blue color, and are transparent (Fig. 1). Associated minerals are chrysocolla, malachite, wulfenite, mimetite, hydroxylpyromorphite, hematite, microcline, muscovite, and quartz.
The ideal chemical formula of lazaraskeite is Cu(C2H3O3)2. Therefore, it represents the first known example of an organic mineral containing glycolate. Shortly thereafter, three other glycolate minerals were discovered and described from the same locality: stanvevansite, jimkriegite, and lianbinite.
Lazaraskeite is monoclinic. Actually, two distinct polytypes occur, which have the same space group, P21/n, but different yet related structures. The unit cell parameters of lazaraskeite-M1 are a = 5.1049(2), b = 8.6742(4), c= 7.7566(3) Å, β = 106.834(2)°, whereas those of lazaraskeite-M2 are a = 5.1977(3), b = 7.4338(4), c = 8.8091(4) Å, β = 101.418(2)°. The crystal structures of both polytypes have been refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R = 2.6% (M1) and 2.4% (M2). The structure of lazaraskeite in both its variants is new among minerals, whereas synthetic Cu(C2H3O3)2 is known to have the same structure of polytype M1.
The mineral name is a composite after the names of the two mineral collectors who found it, Warren G. Lazar and Beverly Raskin.
The state of Arizona is confirmed as the seat of beautiful and interesting crystals, since another mineral from Arizona got the “Mineral of the Year” award in 2017: rowleyite, after the Rowley mine, Maricopa County.
The full description of the new mineral has been published in the American Mineralogist [Yang, H., Gu, X., Gibbs, R., Evans, S., Downs, R.T., Jibrin, Z. (2022): Lazaraskeite, Cu(C2H3O3)2, the first organic mineral containing glycolate, from the Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. American Mineralogist, 107, 509-516].
IMA2026 Nanjing
The 24th General Meeting of the International Mineralogy Association will take place in August 2026 in Nanjing, China, with the theme “Mineralogy in Future.” Building upon the successful organization of the IMA in Beijing in 1990, Nanjing eagerly awaits the arrival of mineralogists and young scientists from around the world. With its rich history, vibrant culture, and unwavering commitment to sustainability, Nanjing provides an ideal setting for this conference.
IMA 2026 will focus on traditional mineralogy, carbon-neutral mineralogy, and ‘deep’ mineralogy, exploring advancements in planetary science, sustainability, and analytical techniques. Participants can anticipate rewarding knowledge exchange, a platform for future developments, engaging academic activities, and top-tier venues and accommodations. Both online and offline options will be available to ensure a remarkable experience for all attendees.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Nanjing, China!
Ophirite, Mineral of the Year 2014
We are pleased to announce that for 2014 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to ophirite.
Ophirite, Ca2Mg4[Zn2Mn23+(H2O)2(Fe3+W9O34)2]·46H2O, is a new mineral species from the Ophir Hill Consolidated mine, Ophir district, Oquirrh Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, USA, and was described by Anthony R. Kampf of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and co-authors: John M. Hughes (University of Vermont), Barbara P. Nash (University of Utah), Stephen E. Wright (Miami University), George R. Rossman (Caltech), and Joe Marty (Utah) (Kampf et al., 2014). Ophirite forms beautiful, orange-brown tablet-shaped crystals up to 1 mm in length and is the first known mineral to contain a lacunary defect derivative of the Keggin anion, i.e. a heteropolyanion missing some of its octahedral segments (Keggin, 1934). Phases with the Keggin anion are important in solid state chemistry as a catalyst (e.g. Sun et al., 2009).
Kampf AR, Hughes JM, Nash BP, Wright SE, Rossman GR, Marty J (2014) Ophirite, Ca2Mg4[Zn2Mn23+(H2O)2(Fe3+WO34)2]·46H2O, a new mineral with a heteropolytungstate tri-lacunary Keggin anion. American Mineralogist 99: 1045-1051
Keggin JF (1934) The structure and formula of 12-phosphotungstic acid. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 144: 75-100
Sun CY, Liu SX, Liang DD, Shao K9Z, Ren YH, Su ZM (2009) Highly stable crystalline catalysts based on a microporous metal−organic framework and polyoxometalates. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131: 1883-1888
Chanabayaite, Mineral of the Year 2015
We are pleased to announce that for 2015 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to chanabayaite.
This mineral was discovered and studied by Nikita V. Chukanov of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Chernogolovka, Moscow Region) in collaboration with Natalia V. Zubkova (Moscow State University, MSU), Gerhard Möhn (Niedernhausen, Germany), Igor V. Pekov (MSU), Dmitry Yu. Pushcharovsky (MSU), and Aleksandr E. Zadov (NPP Teplokhim, Moscow).
Chanabayaite, Cu2(N3C2H2)Cl(NH3,Cl,H2O,[])4, is a new mineral species from Mt. Pabellón de Pica near the village of Chanabaya in the Tarapacá region of Chile (Chukanov et al. 2015). This unusual organometallic mineral does not only have a unique crystal structure that features the 1,2,4-triazolate anion (N3C2H2)-, but also acts as a “bridge” between the geosphere and the biosphere because its deep-blue crystals formed where guano deposits (the source of the C and N) came into contact with a chalcopyrite-bearing gabbro (which supplied the Cu). Chanabayaite formed by Na and Cl leaching from, and by the dehydration of, another triazolate-bearing natural compound – and potentially another new mineral – NaCu2Cl3[N3C2H2]2[NH3]2·4H2O (Zubkova et al. 2016).
Chukanov NV (2014) Infrared Spectra of Mineral Species: Extended Library. Springer-Verlag GmbH, Dordrecht–Heidelberg–New York–London, 1, 716 pp
Chukanov NV, Chervonnyi AD (2016) Infrared Spectroscopy of Minerals and Related Compounds. Springer, Cham–Heidelberg– Dordrecht–New York–London, 1,109 pp
Chukanov NV and 5 coauthors (2015) Chanabayaite, Cu2(N3C2H2)Cl(NH3,Cl,H2O,[])4, a new mineral containing triazolate anion. Geology of Ore Deposits 57: 712-720
Zubkova NV and 7 coauthors (2016) The crystal structure of the natural 1,2,4-triazolate compound NaCu2Cl3[N3C2H2]2[NH3]2·4H2O. Zeitschrift für Kristallographie 231: 47-54
Merelaniite, Mineral of the year 2016
We are pleased to announce that for 2016 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to merelaniite. This mineral was discovered in collector specimens from the Merelani region in northeastern Tanzania, and investigated by John A. Jaszczak (Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA), Michael S. Rumsey (Natural History Museum, London, UK), Luca Bindi (Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy), Stephen A. Hackney (MTU), Michael A. Wise (National Museum of Natural History, Washington, USA), Chris J. Stanley (NHM), and John Spratt (NHM). Merelaniite (Mo4Pb4VSbS15), whose unusual whisker-like crystals were initially mistaken for molybdenite, is actually a new member of the cylindrite group (Jaszczak et al. 2016). The new species is remarkable not only for its morphology, which is reminiscent of slender, partially unwound microscopic “scrolls”, or the structure composed of alternating pseudo-tetragonal (PbS-type) and pseudo-hexagonal (MoS2-type) layers, but also for the fact that it comes from the famous mining area that has produced the gemstone tanzanite (vanadium-bearing blue zoisite) for 50 years. Other unusual minerals found in association with merelaniite are well-crystallized wurtzite and alabandite, which represent just one evolutionary stage in the complex metamorphic history of the Merelani deposits. We would like to congratulate John Jaszczak and his co-authors on this award and encourage the readers to learn more about merelaniite from theiropen-access article in Minerals(www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/6/4/115).
Jaszczak JA, Rumsey MS, Bindi L, Hackney SA, Wise MA, Stanley CJ, Spratt J (2016) Merelaniite, Mo4Pb4VSbS15, a new molybdenum-essential member of the cylindrite group, from the Merelani tanzanite deposit, Lelatema Mountains, Manyara Region, Tanzania. Minerals 6:115.
ROWLEYITE, Mineral of the year 2017
We are pleased to announce that for 2017 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to rowleyite.
The prestigious title went to black cuboctahedral crystals peppering green mottramite in an underground tunnel at the abandoned Rowley mine in Arizona, and named for the type locality rowleyite. The chemical formula of this new species is as complex as its crystal structure, and both are a testament to the capabilities of modern science and to the uniqueness of geological conditions that led to rowleyite crystallization. Although structurally related compounds are known in materials science as “salt-templated mesoporous solids” and “polyoxometalates”, it is difficult to succinctly identify something that has the formula [Na(NH4,K)9Cl4][V25+,4+(P,As)O8]6·n[H2O, Na,NH4,K,Cl]. Rowleyite can be described as a phosphovanadate with a zeolite-like, porous framework, in which small cages host the [(NH4,K)9Cl4]5+ clusters forming a “salt net” and large cages accommodate H2O, NH4, Na, K and Cl. This paragon of mineralogical complexity was discovered and published in American Mineralogist (volume 102, pages 1037-1044) by Anthony R. Kampf (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, USA), Mark A. Cooper (University of Manitoba, Canada), Barbara P. Nash and Thure E. Cerling (University of Utah, USA), Joe Marty (Salt Lake City, Utah), Daniel R. Hummer (Southern Illinois University, USA), Aaron J. Celestian (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County), Timothy P. Rose (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA), and Thomas J. Trebisky (University of Arizona, USA). Congratulations to the winning team on this exciting discovery!
The two closest runners-up were kegginite (another polyoxovanadate from the Packrat mine in Colorado, described by Anthony R. Kampf and colleagues (2017) in American Mineralogist and the Ti3+-dominant garnet rubinite discovered in the Vigarano, Allende and Efremovka carbonaceous chondrites by Chi Ma et al. (2017).
How does it looks like, check it out, here.
Carmeltazite, Mineral of the year 2018
We are pleased to announce that for 2018 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to Carmeltazite.
The new complex oxide carmeltazite (ZrAl2Ti4O11) forms black inclusions in blue corundum crystals (“Carmel SapphireTM”) from Cretaceous pyroclastic rocks and associated alluvial deposits at Kishon Mid-Reach in northern Israel. Its name alludes to the type locality at Mt. Carmel and the three principal metals in its formula (Ti, Al and Zr). Carmeltazite was discovered by William L. Griffin (Macquarie University, Australia), Sarah E.M. Gain (University of Western Australia), Luca Bindi (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy), Vered Toledo (Shefa Gems Ltd., Israel), Fernando Cámara (Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy), Martin Saunders (University of Western Australia), and Suzanne Y. O’Reilly (Macquarie University). Since its description was published in Minerals (Griffin et al., 2018), the mineral has gained much publicity online as “the world’s newest gemstone” (EraGem, 2019), and even an “extraterrestrial mineral harder than diamonds” (Flatley, 2019). Although perfectly terrestrial in origin and not particularly gemmy, the Mineral of the Year 2018 does contain Ti3+, altogether rare in the geological environment, and possesses a peculiar crystal structure, which is remotely related to the close-packed arrangement of spinel. As can be seen from its formula, the structure of carmeltazite is cation- and anion-deficient relative to spinels, while its symmetry is reduced to orthorhombic. Perhaps even more remarkable than its public image or structure is the association of carmeltazite with other Ti3+ and carbide minerals, which indicates very unusual geological conditions in their volcanic cradle and promises new exciting discoveries in the future (Griffin et al., 2018).
We would also like to acknowledge here the close runners-up, which included the modular carbonato-phosphato-silicate aravaite from pyrometamorphic rocks of the Hatrurim Complex in Israel (Krüger et al., 2018) and the first-ever tin sulfate genplesite from the Oktyabr’skoe Cu-Ni-Pd-Pt deposit in Siberia, Russia (Pekov et al., 2018). Once again, we congratulate Bill Griffin and his co-authors on their interesting discovery.
Check out its structure, and its amazing color.
TEWITE, Mineral of the Year 2019
We are pleased to announce that for 2019 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to tewite.
This mineral was discovered in the vicinity of Nanyang village, Huaping County, located in the south of the Panzhihua–Xichang region, southwestern China. It occurs in the Neoproterozoic Sinian light-weathered biotite–quartz monzonite, near the contact zone with gabbro. The associated minerals are alkali feldspar, biotite, clinoamphibole, ilmenite, zircon, zoisite, tourmaline, monazite-(Ce), allanite-(Ce), scheelite, tellurite and the new mineral wumuite (KAl0.33W2.67O9, IMA2017-067a), in addition to an unidentified, potentially new mineral corresponding to WO3.
Tewite forms platy crystals that range from 0.08×0.1×0.1 to 0.1×0.2×0.5 mm in size. The crystals are greenish yellow, with a light-yellow to white streak, translucent to transparent, and with adamantine luster. Mohs hardness is 3½–4, and the tenacity is brittle. Tewite has perfect {100}, {001}, and {010} cleavages. The empirical formula, based on 19 O, is (K1.61Na0.06□0.33)∑2.00(Te1.06W0.35□0.59)∑2.00W5O19. Already first studies showed tewite to be a new mineral with a new crystal-structure type and a composition containing Te, W and K. No similar minerals or synthetic compounds corresponding to this mineral have been previously found.
Tewite has a new tungsten-bronze (TB)-type derivative structure. Distorted TeO6 octahedra break TB slabs into ribbons which are displaced by ½ a relative to their neighbors, while K partly occupies two mutually exclusive sites in hexagonal channels || c. Short-range order and displacement of K ions are likely responsible for an observed incommensurate modulation of the average structure indicated by weak satellite reflections along c*, which were not considered in the structure refinement.
The two closest runners-up were Rudabanyaite, a new mineral with a [Ag2Hg2]4+ cluster cation from the Rudabánya ore deposit (Hungary) described by Herta Effenberger and co-authors (2019) in the European Journal of Mineralogy and Davidbrownite-(NH4), a new phosphate–oxalate mineral from the Rowley mine, Arizona, USA, described by Anthony R. Kampf and co-authors in the Mineralogical Magazine (2019).We would like to congratulate Guowu Li and co-authors on the discovery of tewite and encourage all colleagues to read about this fantastic find in the European Journal of Mineralogy article.
Li, Guowu, Xue, Yuan, Xiong, Ming (2019): Tewite: A K–Te–W new mineral species with a modified tungsten-bronze type structure, from the Panzhihua-Xichang region, southwest China. European Journal of Mineralogy 31 (1):145–152.
https://doi.org/10.1127/ejm/2019/0031-2813
Effenberger, H., Szakáll, S., Fehér, B., Váczi, T.; Zajzon, N. (2019): Rudabányaite, a new mineral with a [Ag2Hg2]4+ cluster cation from the Rudabánya ore deposit (Hungary).
European Journal of Mineralogy 31 (3):537–547.
https://doi.org/10.1127/ejm/2019/0031-2830
Kampf, A.R., Cooper, M.A., Rossman, G.R., Nash, B.P., Hawthorne, F.C., Marty, J. (2019): Davidbrownite-(NH4), (NH4,K)5(V4+O)2(C2O4)[PO2.75(OH)1.25]4·3H2O, a new phosphate–oxalate mineral from the Rowley mine, Arizona, USA. Mineralogical Magazine 83 (6):869-877.
https://doi.org/10.1180/mgm.2019.56
BAJORITE, Mineral of the Year 2020
We are pleased to announce that for 2020 the “Mineral of the Year” award has been assigned to Bojarite. This new mineral was found and characterized by a research team led by Nikita Chukanov (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow). The full description of the new mineral is available here: Chukanov, N.V., Möhn, G., Zubkova, N.V., Ksenofontov, D.A., Pekov, I.V., Agakhanov, A.A., Britvin, S.N., Desor, J. (2020): Bojarite, Cu3(N3C2H2)3(OH)Cl2·6H2O, a new mineral species with a microporous metal-organic framework from the guano deposit at Pabellón de Pica, Iquique Province, Chile. Mineralogical Magazine, 84, 921-927.
Bojarite was discovered in a guano deposit on the northern slope of the Pabellón de Pica Mountain, 1.5 km south of Chanabaya village, Iquique Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile. The mineral occurs as blue fine-grained porous aggregates a few mm wide. Associated minerals are salammoniac, halite, chanabayaite, nitratine, and belloite (Fig. 1). Its ideal chemical formula is Cu3(N3C2H2)3(OH)[Cl2(H2O)4]·2H2O, hence bojarite is a copper triazolate mineral.
Bojarite crystallizes in the cubic system, and has space group Fd 3 c, with a = 24.8047(5) Å. The crystal structure of bojarite has been refined by the Rietveld method and is definitely elegant: three Cu2+ cations are linked by an hydroxyl anion at the center of an equilateral triangle and are also 2+ connected to two nitrogen atoms of the triazole ring, leading to the formation of [Cu3(trz)3(OH)] building blocks [where trz = 1,2,4-triazole anion (N3C2H2)–]. The third nitrogen atom of the triazole ring connects the triangular unit with adjacent units, giving rise to a three-dimensional network. The coordination of copper is completed by two longer bonds with chlorine atoms.
A fragment of the crystal structure containing the [Cu3(trz)3(OH)]2+ building block with additional Cl– anions and three additional triazole rings is shown in Fig. 2.
Bojarite is a supergene mineral formed as the result of alteration of chanabayaite in the contact zone between a deeply altered bird guano deposit and chalcopyrite-bearing amphibole gabbro.
Bojarite is the ninth new mineral found in the guano deposit at Pabellón de Pica. It is worth noting that another mineral from that same occurrence, chanabayaite, was elected as the “Mineral of the Year” in 2015.
