Naming%20New%20Minerals

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Naming New Minerals

• Lasalite, a recent example (Hughes et al., 2008)

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Governing Body

• International Mineralogical Association (IMA)
• Commission on new minerals, nomenclature, and
  classification (CNMNC)
• A mineral substance is a naturally occurring
  solid that has been formed by geological
  processes, either on earth or in extraterrestrial
  bodies (Nickel 1995a). A mineral species is a
  mineral substance with well defined chemical
  composition and crystallographic properties, and
  which merits a unique name.

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Requirements for a new mineral

• Proposed name and reason for selection
• Description of occurrence
• Chemical composition (with method of analysis)
• Chemical fromula, emperical and simplified
• Crystallography (including crystal system, class,
  space group, point group, unit cell parameters,
  Z, and pertinent powder XRD data)
• Appearance and physical properties (size, color,
  streak, luster, transparency, hardness, cleavage,
  parting, fracture, density (measured and
  calculated)

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• Optical properties (transparent)
• Isotropic/anisotropic, unixial/biaxial, optic
  sign, indices of refraction, 2V, dispersion,
  orientation, pleochroism, adsorption spectra.
• Optical properties (opaque)
• Color in PPL, internal reflections, reflectance
  spectra, bireflectance, pleochroism, anisotropy
• Thermal behavior, infared spectrum, response to
  any chemical tests
• Relation to any other minerals
• Type material must also be designated, and a type
  sample committed to at least one major museum as
  a reference

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