Geodiversity: Crystal structures and properties of new and rare mineral species

As in biology, new, previously unknown species continue to be discovered in the geosciences. For the scientific recognition of a new mineral species, crystal structural, chemical and physical data must be determined according to the specifications of the International Mineralogical Association and checked and confirmed by it.

Cooperations between the Department of Mineralogy of CeNak and scientists of the Mineralogical Institute of the University of Hamburg with experts from Chile and Norway, among others, have led to numerous new mineral discoveries (http://www1.museen.uni-hamburg.de/mineralogie/de/science/new_00.html). The newly discovered minerals from the atacamite family show that basic research on new mineral species actually forms the basis for further research not only in the field of mineralogy but also in solid-state physics. Some of these species, including the minerals haydeeite and tondiite, both Cu3Mg(OH)6Cl2, which were found in northern Chilean copper deposits during this project, belong to the class of kagome antiferromagnets. In these compounds, a special arrangement of the copper atoms prevents the formation of conventional magnetic states of order, so that at very low temperatures, unusual states of matter can become experimentally accessible that have previously only been explored theoretically. These so-called spin-liquids are of interest in connection with research into high-temperature superconductivity and quantum computers, among other things.