Scientists from the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, and the Fersman Mineralogical Museum made an exciting discovery at the Kirov mine in the Khibiny massif. They identified a mineral previously unknown to science, which they named Kola ashcroftin. russian.
The uniqueness of this mineral lies in its complex structure and unique chemical composition. It contains the rare earth element yttrium, along with silicon, potassium, sodium, calcium, manganese, and fluorine. Interestingly, while the mineral shares some visual characteristics with ashcroftin (a pink, transparent, brittle silicate first found in Greenland, Canada, and Italy), the Kola variant has a distinct composition. The structure of Kola ashcroftin is considered one of the most complex among all known minerals. russian.
According to reports, the average price of only the film on the rock significantly exceeds the cost of gold. Scientists consider this mineral a «chemical archive of the Earth’s crust» due to its rare earth content. Russian researchers plan to continue studying its properties and potential applications. russian.
Note: There was some initial confusion in media reports about whether this was a truly new mineral or a newly analyzed variant of an existing one. The Kola Scientific Center clarified that while it is a secondary mineral with valuable properties, the discussion about it being a completely new species is still under scientific review.
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