en.Wedoany.com Reported - The new mineral "Rozhdestvenskayaite-(Fe)" was recently approved by the International Mineralogical Association's Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (IMA-CNMNC), with the number IMA-2026-025. The mineral was jointly discovered and reported by the team of Professors Gu Xuexiang and Zhang Yongmei from China University of Geosciences (Beijing), together with Wang Xinli, Senior Engineer at China Nonferrous Metals Industrial Technology Development Co., Ltd., Professor Gu Xiangping from Jiangxi University of Applied Science, Researcher Fan Guang from the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, and Zhang Anli, Senior Engineer at Chifeng Lituo Mining Co., Ltd.
Rozhdestvenskayaite-(Fe) belongs to the argentotennantite series of the tetrahedrite group, with the crystal chemical formula Ag6(Ag4Fe2)Sb4S13. The mineral occurs as irregular grains, mostly less than 50 micrometers in size, and is a dark gray-black opaque mineral with a Mohs hardness of approximately 3. Its reflectance color is gray with a slight bluish tint, with a reflectance of about 30.5%, and it exhibits no bireflectance or reflection pleochroism.
This new mineral was discovered in vein-type ores of the Bianjiadayuan silver-lead-zinc polymetallic deposit in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. The associated and accompanying metallic mineral assemblage is complex, including pyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, freibergite, pyrargyrite, and stephanite, among others. The silver content in the mineral reaches 51.5%, indicating industrial utilization value, and it also holds scientific significance for studying the genesis of silver-lead-zinc polymetallic deposits.
This research was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Science and Technology Major Project for Deep Earth. Rozhdestvenskayaite-(Fe) is the fourth new mineral discovered and named by the aforementioned team, following magnesio-ferri-hornblende, zhengminghuaite, and luoxianchangite.
