Galicia became the scene of a scientific discovery that captured the attention of the whole world: the discovery of a completely new mineral, that we find on its territory and which has no equal anywhere else on the planet. He Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) confirmed that this new mineral, named hermeloïteis unique both in its composition and its structure.
What makes this discovery particularly relevant is that, so far, this mineral It has only been localized in a specific Galician areawhich gives it an exclusive character on a global level.
This is the mineral discovered in Galicia
He Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC) participated in the description of a new mineral species known as hermeloïte. Until a few weeks ago, it was unknown on the planet. As the press release details, it is “a aluminum phosphate which was discovered in Mount Ermelo of Pontevedra and this joined the list of 40 minerals discovered in Spain throughout history.
He the discovery of this mineral took place in 2015 by mineralogy enthusiasts who collaborate with the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). However, the definitive studies were carried out with the collaboration of other researchers such as the geologist Ramón Jiménez Martínez (from IGME-CSIC) and José González del Tánago (from the Faculty of Geological Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid) .
Jiménez Martínez explains that this discovery is very relevant “because they are rare minerals. “In this case, thanks to the collaboration between different scientific groups, it has been proven that phosphate did not have two water moleculeslike others recorded, so it had to be something new, because it was finally published and recognized,” he reports.
These are the latest mineral discoveries in Spain
The discovery of hermeloïte was published in the scientific journal Mineralogical mazagine. This mineral is added to the 1,200 already existing in Spain. Before this discovery, the colomeritea mineral unveiled in 2020 and found in Colomera (Granada) in a fallen meteorite.
In recent years, as detailed by the IGME-CSIC, the sewerite and fehrite. In Galicia, to date, only three minerals have been discovered: morenosite and zaratite at Cape Ortegal and cervantitis in Cervantes (Lugo), all in the 11th century.
If you would like to see ermeloite, this new mineral unique in the world, you can do so at Natural History Museum of the University of Santiago de Compostela. Finally, note that the Geomining Museum houses the test sample used for its quantitative chemical characterization.
