Scientists have found a new valuable mineral in Russia

On the territory of Nizhny Tagil in the Mednorudyansky malachite deposit, scientists discovered a unique mineral yttrium petersite. As RG.RU was informed in the information department of the Ural Mining University, such a find is a rare combination of chemical elements that are practically not found in nature.

“I worked with samples and saw something different from others. Since it was not possible to visually diagnose him, he took an x-ray. She identified the specimen as agardite (Y). After clarifying the composition on an electron microscope, I came to the conclusion that it is a copper-yttrium mineral, which consists of yttrium, copper, phosphorus and water, ”Sergey Sustavov, associate professor of the department of mineralogy, petrography and geochemistry, told RG.RU.

The well-known mineralogist, professor and corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences Igor Pekov confirmed the assumptions of the Ural scientists and specified that such a mineral had previously been found only in America and Japan. This valuable rare-earth metal is widely used in the production of glass and ceramics - it gives the final product heat resistance, impact resistance and resistance to expansion, the USGU information department specified.