Michael Rumsey

Natural History Museum, London · Department of Earth Sciences

Diegogattaite (IMA2012-096), Na2CaCu2Si8O20·H2O, is a new mineral from the Wessels mine in the Kalahari manganese fields of South Africa. It occurs as a minor phase with other copper-bearing silicates, Cu-rich pectolite, sugilite, quartz, aegirine and undifferentiated Fe-Mn oxides. Diegogattaite is pale turquoise through teal blue. It is found as s...

Natropharmacoalumite, ideally NaAl4[(OH)4(AsO4)3]·4H2O, is a new mineral from the Maria Josefa Gold mine, Rodalquilar, Andalusia region, Spain. It occurs as colourless, intergrown cubic crystals with chenevixite, kaolinite, jarosite and indeterminable mixtures of Fe and Sb oxyhydroxides. Individual crystals are up to 0.5 mm on edge, although crysta...

Outstanding specimens of several sulfide minerals from the Merelani tanzanite deposit have recently become available, including rare wurtzite in giant, deep red-brown, partially gemmy, well-formed crystals, lustrous black alabandite and form-rich pyrite with exceptional luster. Other sulfides identified include sphalerite, chalcopyrite, millerite,...

Merelaniite is a new mineral from the tanzanite gem mines near Merelani, Lelatema Mountains, Simanjiro District, Manyara Region, Tanzania. It occurs sporadically as metallic dark gray cylindrical whiskers that are typically tens of micrometers in diameter and up to a millimeter long, although a few whiskers up to 12 mm long have been observed. The...

Contemporary mineralogists suggested that collieite, a black botryoidal mineral from Wanlockhead, Dumfries and Galloway, was a calcium- and vanadate-rich variety of pyromorphite. More recent analyses have identified similarly labelled material as mottramite or a mixture of phosphohedyphane and manganese oxides. An investigation of a fragment of the...

Tomiolloite (IMA2021-019) is a new aluminium tellurite sulfite–sulfate mineral discovered at the Bambolla mine, Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico, well-known tellurium (Te) mineral locality. Tomiolloite forms roughly spherical clusters of crystals comprised of very thin, needle-like crystals (1 μm diameter, ~40 μm length) around a core of small, stubbier,...

Bournonite (CuPbSbS 3 ) and enargite (Cu 3 AsS 4 ) have recently been used as absorber layers in thin-film photovoltaic devices due to their ideal bandgap and ferroelectric properties. An understanding of the ferroelectric domain structure in these materials is required so that the benefits of the internal depolarizing electric fields can be fully...

The high‐pressure behaviour of a natural jadarite [ideally LiNaSiB3O7(OH), a ∼6.76 Å, b ∼13.80 Å, c ∼7.69 Å, β = 124.09°, Sp. Gr. P21/c] has been studied by in‐situ single‐crystal and powder synchrotron X‐ray diffraction up to 20 GPa, with a diamond‐anvil cell and using He as hydrostatic pressure‐transmitting fluid. Between 16.57(5) and 17.04(5) GP...

The crystal structure of montanite has been determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction on a synthetic sample, supported by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), electron microprobe analysis (EPMA) and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Montanite was first described in 1868 as Bi2TeO6·nH2O (n = 1 or 2). The determination of the crystal structure of...

Bridgesite-(Ce), (IMA2019-034), was discovered at Tynebottom Mine, Cumbria, UK. It occurs as thin (1–2 μm) translucent blue crystals with a lath-like to acicular habit, aggregated into thin crusts and is associated mainly with brochantite, malachite, serpierite, devilline, gypsum, aragonite, jarosite, pyrite, lanthanite-(Ce) and undifferentiated ir...

Synthetic and naturally occurring forms of tricopper orthotellurate, Cu II 3 Te VI O 6 (the mineral mcalpineite) have been investigated by 3D electron diffraction (3D ED), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopic measurements. As a result of the diffraction analyses, Cu II 3 Te VI O 6 is shown to occur in two polytypes...

The Kabwe Zn-Pb deposit (central Zambia) consists of a cluster of mixed sulfide and non-sulfide orebodies. The sulfide ores comprise sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite and accessory Ge-sulfides (±Ga and In). The non-sulfide ores comprise: (1) willemite-dominated zones encasing massive sulfide orebodies and (2) oxide-dominated alteration bands...

Secondary tellurium mineralogy has been expanding over the past 20 years thanks to several remarkable deposits mostly in western USA and further studies at Moctezuma, Mexico. These deposits continue to produce new minerals with new crystal-structure types and help us to understand the weathering history of this critical metal. The new mineral tomio...

Utahite was first described in 1997 based mainly on powder X-ray diffraction data and electron microprobe data. No crystal structure was reported. The re-examination of utahite using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analysis has shown that utahite contains essential Mg, along with Cu, Zn, Te, O and H. The missing MgO was ori...

Wildcatite (IMA2020–019) is a new calcium–iron(III) tellurate discovered at the Wildcat prospect in the Detroit district, Juab County, Utah. Wildcatite may take on a variety of appearances, ranging from transparent orange to brown coatings or masses to earthy, white polycrystalline coatings filling jasperoid fracture surfaces. Coatings of wildcatit...

The occurrence, chemical composition and structural characterisation of the new mineral kernowite, ideally Cu 2 Fe(AsO 4 )(OH) 4 ⋅4H 2 O, the Fe ³⁺ -analogue of liroconite, Cu 2 Al(AsO 4 )(OH) 4 ⋅4H 2 O, are described. Kernowite (IMA2020-053) occurs on specimens probably sourced from the Wheal Gorland mine, St Day, Cornwall, UK, in the cavities of...

Frustrated magnetic phases have been a perennial interest to theoreticians wishing to understand the energetics and behavior of quasi-chaotic systems at the quantum level. This behavior also has potentially wide applications to developing quantum data-storage devices. Several minerals are examples of such phases. Since the definition of herbertsmit...

Ontology deals with questions concerning what things exist, and how such things may be associated according to similarities and differences and related within a hierarchy. Ontology provides a rigorous way to develop a general definition of a mineral species. Properties may be divided into two principal groups: an intrinsic property is characteristi...

Native tungsten (IMA2011-004), W, is officially described as a new mineral from gold placers in the Bol'shaya Pol'ya river valley, Prepolar Urals, Russia, associated with yttriaite-(Y) and from quartz veins in the Mt Neroyka rock-crystal field, Ust–Puiva, Tyumenskaya Oblast', Russia. Tungsten forms polycrystalline grains and masses, and rarely cubo...

Native tungsten (IMA2011-004), W, is officially described as a new mineral from gold placers in the Bol'shaya Pol'ya river valley, Prepolar Urals, Russia, associated with yttriaite-(Y) and from quartz veins in the Mt Neroyka rock-crystal field, Ust–Puiva, Tyumenskaya Oblast', Russia. Tungsten forms polycrystalline grains and masses, and rarely cubo...

For four decades fairbankite was reported to have the formula Pb2+(Te4+O3), but repeated attempts to isolate fairbankite crystals for structural determination found only the visually similar cerussite and, more rarely, anglesite. The crystal-structure determination of fairbankite using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, supported by electron micropr...

The classification and nomenclature of mineral species is regulated by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMACNMNC). This mineral species classification is necessary for Earth Sciences, as minerals constitute most planetary and interstellar materials. Hazen (2019) has prop...

Hingganite-(Nd), ideally Nd2□Be2Si2O8(OH)2, is a new gadolinite group, gadolinite supergroup mineral discovered at Zagi Mountain, near Kafoor Dheri, about 4 km S of Warsak and 30 km NW of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The new mineral forms zones measuring up to 1 × 1 mm2 in loose prismatic crystals up to 0.7 cm long, where it is...

The occurrence and characterisation of a new member of the dundasite group are reported. Grguricite, ideally CaCr 2 (CO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 ⋅4H 2 O, is the Cr analogue of alumohydrocalcite, CaAl 2 (CO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 ⋅4H 2 O and occurs as lilac crusts of very fine-grained crystalline aggregates in the Pb–Ba–V mineralisation found at the Adeghoual Mine, Mibla...

The phases pushcharovskite, geminite and liroconite were synthesized or acquired and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and optical emission spectrometry, as needed. Their thermodynamic properties were determined by a combination of acid-solution calorimetry and...

The cranium from Broken Hill (Kabwe) was recovered from cave deposits in 1921, during metal ore mining in what is now Zambia¹. It is one of the best-preserved skulls of a fossil hominin, and was initially designated as the type specimen of Homo rhodesiensis, but recently it has often been included in the taxon Homo heidelbergensis2,3,4. However, th...

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Geological museums and the collections within them are extremely diverse, they vary in purpose, collection, size and organization. As global expectations and social trends change with regards to education, entertainment, preservation and research, so too do geological collections evolve in style and kind. A brief review of the different types of ge...

The mineral ‘oboyerite’, first described in 1979 from the Grand Central mine, Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona, USA, has been re-examined. The type specimen from the Natural History Museum, London and a specimen from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (traceable to S. A Williams, who first described ‘oboyerite’) were analysed in thi...

Stable isotope (C-O) analysis was applied to smithsonites and cerussites from Zn(Pb) nonsulphide ores from Britain and Ireland, to determine the nature of the fluids responsible for the precipitation of secondary carbonates, and any relationship with palaeoclimatic conditions. The carbon isotope compositions of the Irish smithsonites show a major c...

The new mineral somersetite, has been found at Torr Works (‘Merehead quarry’) in Somerset, England, United Kingdom. Somersetite is green or white (typically it is similar visually to hydrocerussite-like minerals but with a mint-green tint), forms plates and subhedral grains up to 5 mm across and up to 2 mm thick. In bi-coloured crystals it forms ve...

The crystal structure of eztlite has been determined using single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction and supported using electron microprobe analysis and powder diffraction. Eztlite, a secondary tellurium mineral from the Moctezuma mine, Mexico, is monoclinic, space group Cm, with a = 11.466(2) Å, b = 19.775(4) Å, c = 10.497(2) Å, β = 102.62(3)°...

Millsite, CuTeO3·2H2O, is a new mineral from Gråurdfjellet in Oppdal, Norway. It occurs as a minor secondary phase alongside teineite, other copper secondaries and relict primary tellurides in a boulder of quartz-rich granite, which is probably a glacial erratic. Millsite is bright cyan to royal blue in colour. The mineral is transparent to slightl...

The crystal structure of cesbronite has been determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and supported by electron microprobe analysis, powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Cesbronite is orthorhombic, space group Cmcm , with a = 2.93172 (16), b = 11.8414 (6), c = 8.6047 (4) Å and V = 298.72 (3) Å ³ . The chemical formula of cesbronite h...

The crystal structure identification of the photovoltaic material Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) is challenging due to the distinguishing feature between the two polymorphs, kesterite and stannite, being the arrangement of Cu and Zn ions. Here an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) technique, based on electron beam channeling along specific crystallographic planes i...

Siidraite, Pb2Cu(OH)2I3, is a new mineral from the Broken Hill deposit in New South Wales, Australia. It occurs as an extremely rare secondary phase alongside marshite, other lead and copper secondaries and supergene cuprite on a single specimen, BM 84642 preserved in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London. Siidraite is yellow and occ...

Girdite, a mineral described byWilliams in 1979 from the Grand Central mine, Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona, USA, has been re-examined by powder X-ray diffraction, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe. Type material from The Natural History Museum, London and the United States National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian...

Hydroxyferroroméite, ideally (Fe2+1.5□0.5)Sb5+2O6(OH), is a new secondary mineral from the Correc d'en Llinassos, Oms, Pyrénées-Orientales Department, France. Hydroxyferroroméite occurs as yellow to yellow-brown powdery boxwork replacements up to about 50 mm across after tetrahedrite in a siderite–quartz matrix. Nodistinct crystals have been observ...

The Kabwe Zn-Pb deposit (central Zambia) consists of a cluster of mixed sulfide and non-sulfide orebodies. The sulfide ores comprise sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite and accessory Ge-sulfides (±Ga and In). The non-sulfide ores comprise: (1) willemite-dominated zones encasing massive sulfide orebodies and (2) oxide-dominated alteration bands...

The type specimen of partzite has been reinvestigated by powder X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe traverses. Re-examination of the type material shows that it is a mixture of several phases, intergrown on a submicrometre scale and hence not fully resolved by electron microprobe. Investigation of major-element spot analyses for correlations...

A crystallographic and chemical study of two 'elsmoreite' samples (previously described as 'ferritungstite' from the Hemerdon mine (now known as the Drakelands mine), Devon, United Kingdom has shown them to be two different polytypes of hydrokenoelsmoreite. Hydrokenoelsmoreite-3C (HKE-3C) crystallizes in space group Fd3m, with the unit-cell paramet...

Pb4Mo4VSbS15 Merelani Region, Tanzania Cylindrite homologous series Q pseudo-layer – Triclinic: C1 or C1 a = 5.929(8), b = 5.961(5), c = 12.03(1) Å, α = 91.33(9), β = 90.88(5), γ = 91.79(4)° 6.14(30), 3.96(15), 3.01(10), 2.965(100), 2.444 (10), 1.852(20), 1.790(15) H pseudo-layer – Triclinic: C1 or C1 a = 5.547(9), b = 3.156(4), c = 11.91(1), α = 8...

A new protocol for the quantitative determination of zeolite-group mineral compositions by electron probe microanalysis (wavelength-dispersive spectrometry) under ambient conditions, is presented. The method overcomes the most serious challenges for this mineral group, including new confidence in the fundamentally important Si-Al ratio. Development...

Pb2Cu(OH)2I3, a new type of a halocuprate(I) is discovered as a natural mineral in a rock specimen from the Cu—Zn—Pb ore deposit in NSW, Australia.

Not all minerals are what they seem. Mineral names come and go, definitions change, collecting trends alter and our science and technology moves on. This combines to create a wealth of confusing and ever changing mineralogical terminology, yet strangely the physical material in question never actually changes. Focusing on some of my recent researc...

Pb2Cu(OH)2I3 is a new type of halocuprate(I) that is a framework of alternating [Pb4(OH)4]4+ and [Cu2I6]4− units. The structure has been determined in orthorhombic space group Fddd to R1=0.037, wR2=0.057, GoF=1.016. Unit cell parameters are a=16.7082(9) Å, b=20.8465(15) Å, c=21.0159(14) Å, V=7320.0(8) Å3 (Z=32). There is no synthetic counterpart. T...

A new protocol for the quantitative determination of zeolite group mineral compositions by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA, wavelength dispersive spectrometry) under ambient conditions, is presented. The method overcomes the most serious challenges for this mineral group, including new confidence in the fundamentally important Si-Al ratio. Devel...

Hemihedrite from the Florence Lead-Silver mine in Pinal County, Arizona, USA was first described and assigned the ideal chemical formula Pb10Zn(CrO4)6(SiO4)2F2, based upon a variety of chemical and crystal-structure analyses. The primary methods used to determine the fluorine content for hemihedrite were colorimetry, which resulted in values of F t...

Yeomanite, Pb2O(OH)Cl, is a new Pb-oxychloride found in the manganese pod mineral assemblage at Merehead (Torr Works) Quarry, near Cranmore, Somerset, England. Yeomanite is named in joint recognition of Mrs Angela Yeoman (1931–) and her company, Foster Yeoman, who operated Merehead Quarry for aggregate until 2006. The mineral is normally white, occ...

Dehydration of the natural open-framework compound, liskeardite, [(Al,Fe)16(AsO4)9(OH)21(H2O)11]·26H2O, is accompanied by a change in the sign of the thermal expansion from positive to negative above room temperature, and at ~100 °C the structure undergoes a dramatic 2D contraction by co-operative rotation of heteropolyhedral columns that constitut...

Since its earliest origins the collection of minerals at the NHM has clearly grown significantly through the acquisition of previously extant collections. It is interesting to note that this has been played down in the past, with publications focusing on the nature of the museum to favour cherry-picking rather than the acquisition of a complete col...

The rare thallium copper selenide crookesite occurs as dark grey metallic needles in at least two cavities in a nodule collected from cliffs at Littleham Cove, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. This is the first report of a thallium mineral from the British Isles. The small crystal size, confusion in the mineralogical literature and the need to preserve a...

Nineteenth century trial workings for manganese occur in Ordovician sediments at Gyrn Ddu and Bwlch Mawr in the parishes of Llanaelhaearn and Clynnog-Fawr respectively. Scant historical information relating to these workings exists, but what little there is suggests that manganite and psilomelane are the main manganese phases. Recent fieldwork and...

There is currently wide cross-disciplinary interest in the structural chemistry of substituted copper hydroxyhalides having the paratacamite/herbertsmithite, kapellasite/haydeeite and claringbullite groups on account of their potential applications in solid-state science. Most notably, the herbertsmithite and kapellasite structures are natural exam...

Nineteen natural specimens of azurite from European mining locations used in medieval times were analysed by Raman microscopy to investigate the existence and identity of any impurities. Malachite, hematite, goethite and other commonly occurring minerals such as cuprite, rutile and anatase were detected in a significant proportion of the specimens....

A small note outlining the discovery of an important painite specimen from Mogok, that had been laying unnoticed within the mineral collection at the NHM that was acquired some 38 years before the official discovery of the species. Had it been identified at the time, it would have been the best example of this rare species for about 90 years!

The type specimen of liskeardite, (Al,Fe)3AsO4(OH)6·5H2O, from the Marke Valley Mine, Liskeard District, Cornwall, has been reinvestigated. The revised composition from electron microprobe analyses and structure refinement is [Al29.2Fe2.8(AsO4)18(OH)42(H2O)22]·52H2O. The crystal structure was determined using synchrotron data collected on a 2 μm di...

Through application of an attitude questionnaire this research explored expert stakeholders' values associated with geological collections. Six values were identified using exploratory factor analysis: Personal/Inspirational, Uniqueness, Originality/Historic, Educational/Future, Aesthetic/Commercial, Information. All values except Aesthetic/Commerc...

Lead oxyhalides occur under variety of natural and technological conditions. They can be found as secondary minerals in oxidation zones of mineral deposits. For instance, Merehead quarry in England is the famous place for many findings of lead oxyhalides first described in 1923 by Spencer and Mountain (1923). Genesis of these deposits is still a to...

The structure of a new naturally-occurring nanoporous copper silicate of formula Na2CaCu2Si8O20 ·H2O is reported and its relations to synthetic nanoporous, so-called CuSH phases is discussed.

The crystal structure of hereroite, a new complex lead oxychloride mineral from the Kombat Mine, Grootfontein, Namibia, has been solved by direct methods and refined to R1 = 0.054 for 6931 unique observed reflections. The mineral is monoclinic C2/c, a = 23.139(4), b = 22.684(4), c = 12.389(2) Å, β = 102.090(3)°, and V = 6358.8(18) Å3. The structure...

The crystal structure of vladkrivovichevite, a new complex lead oxychloride mineral from the Kombat Mine, Grootfontein, Namibia, has been solved by direct methods and refined to R1 = 0.048 for 3801 unique observed reflections. The mineral is orthorhombic, Pmmn, a = 12.759(1), b = 27.169(4), c = 11.515(1) Å, and V = 3992.0(9) Å3. The structure of vl...

The crystal structure of hereroite, a new complex lead oxychloride mineral from the Kombat Mine, Grootfontein, Namibia, has been solved by direct methods and refined to R 1 = 0.054 for 6931 unique observed reflections. The mineral is monoclinic C2/c, a = 23.139(4), b = 22.684(4), c = 12.389(2) Å, β = 102.090(3)°, and V = 6358.8(18) Å 3. The structu...

The recently described hydrous zinc arsenate ianbruceite has been identified as white to pale pink radiating aggregates of lath-like crystals in fractures in quartz-dolomite matrix at Driggith Mine, Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria. The largest crystals reach about 0.2 mm on edge and have a distinctive diamond-shaped outline. Inconspicuous white to faintly...

Type specimens of the molybdoarsenates betpakdalite, natrobetpakdalite and obradovicite and the molybdophosphates mendozavilite, paramendozavilite and melkovite, and similar material from other sources, have been examined in an effort to elucidate the relations among these phases, which we designate as the heteropolymolybdate family of minerals. Us...

Two new lead oxychloride minerals, hereroite [Pb 32 (O, ☐) 21 ](AsO 4 ) 2 ((Si,As,V,Mo)O 4 ) 2 Cl 10 and vladkrivovichevite [Pb 32 O 18 ][Pb 4 Mn 2 O]Cl 14 (BO 3 ) 8 ·2H 2 O occur in association with asisite, damaraite, kombatite, sahlinite, copper, quartz, barysilite, Mn silicates and a number of Mn oxyhydroxide minerals on a specimen from the Kom...