Extremely Rare Mineral Found for Only the Second Time on Earth

The corundum stones contain a variety of rare minerals, including Moissanite and tistarite.

A report was prepared by professor of geology William Griffin of Australia’s Macquarie University following his examination of the mineral samples of corundum stones sent to him by Shefa Yamim, which found the stones in several sites in the Kishon River. The corundum stones contain a variety of rare minerals, including Moissanite and tistarite.

Volcanic rocks from Israel contain the first known occurrence on Earth of a titanium-rich mineral called tistarite. The discovery suggests that deep-Earth chemistry may differ from what scientists had suspected.
Tistarite is an exceedingly rare mineral with the formula Ti₂O₃, thus being the natural analogue of titanium(III) oxide. In terms of chemistry it is the titanium-analogue of hematite, corundum, eskolaite, and karelianite. Other minerals with the general formula A₂O₃ are arsenolite, avicennite, claudetite, bismite, bixbyite, kangite, sphaerobismoite, yttriaite-(Y) and valentinite.

Until now, tistarite had been found only in a single meteorite from Mexico. A team led by William Griffin at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, found more of it in rocks from Mount Carmel.

Tistarite forms in chemically reducing conditions, for instance in high-hydrogen environments. The authors suggest that hydrogen or methane might percolate deep into volcanic plumbing systems, creating ultra-reducing pockets in which the unusual mineral can form.


The above post is reprinted from Materials provided by Macquarie University.