Mineralogists have mineral species, in a similar way to biologists and botanists, who have animal and plant species based on distinctive morphological features.
A mineral is:
Minerals have a specific chemical composition and a characteristic internal regular geometric arrangement of atoms, sometimes expressed as natural crystal faces. At present, there are about 4020 known mineral species in the world, far less than animals or plants.
A type mineral specimen is one from which that mineral was first formally described, just as biologists and botanists have type specimens from which new animals and plants have first been formally described. If any scientist wants to study that particular mineral, then the type specimen is extremely important because it is the defined specimen (i.e. chemistry and structure) for that mineral species. Because of this, all type specimens should ideally be lodged with the state or national museum of the country in which the mineral was found and stored under secure conditions. The formal definition of type specimens is as follows:
The first new mineral species to be described from Australia was Maldonite (a gold-bismuth compound), found near the gold mining town of Maldon in central Victoria and formally described by George Ulrich in 1870. Since then, about 110 new mineral species have been described from Australia, representing about 2.5% of the known total. Only a few mineral species (31) were first described from Australia up to about 1970. With vast improvements in technology, particularly the electron microprobe (used to determine the chemical composition of minerals) and X-ray diffractometer (used to determine the structure of minerals), more than 80 new minerals have been described since then (averaging almost three per year) and more are being discovered every year.
Most new mineral species from Australia have been discovered during mining operations, usually as minor accessory minerals. Amateur mineral collectors have also made important new mineral discoveries through careful examination of specimens in their own collections obtained from old collections, mineral dealers, mines, quarries and mine dumps.
The Australian Museum has seven type mineral specimens in its collection. These are:
Al(OH)3(2 mm) (Triclinic) Mont St Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. Discovered in 1985 and named after an agronomist of the Canadian Dept of Agriculture and amateur mineral collector, Earl Joseph Doyle. Chao, G.Y., Baker, J., Sabina, A.P., and Roberts, A.C., 1985. Canadian Mineralogist , 23: 21-28. Photo: P Ovenden © Australian Museum.
CaCu(CH3COO)4.6H2O (Monoclinic). (25 x 20 x 15 mm) Potosi mine, Broken Hill, New South Wales. Discovered in 2002 and named after local Broken Hill mineral collector, Graham Hogan. Hibbs, D.E., Kolitsch, U., Leverett, P., Sharpe, J.L., and Williams, P.A., 2002. Mineralogical Magazine, 66 (3): 459-464.
Al6(Al, Ta)(Si, Sb, As)3BO15(O, OH)2(Orthorhombic). Tin placers, Greenbushes, south-west Western Australia. Discovered in 1971 and named after a former Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt. Pryce, M.W., 1971. Mineralogical Magazine, 38: 21-25.
NaNi4(CO3)3(OH)3.3H2O (Hexagonal). Otter Shoot, near Kambalda, Western Australia. Discovered in 1985 and named after the locality. Nickel, E.H., and Robinson, B.W., 1985. American Mineralogist, 70: 419-422. Photo: P Ovenden © Australian Museum.
Cu1+6Fe3+2Sn4+S8 (25 mm disc) (Tetragonal). Royal George mine, Tingha, NE New South Wales and North Lyell mine, Mount Lyell, Tasmania. Discovered in 1965 and named after the Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson. Markham, N.L., and Lawrence, L.J., 1965. American Mineralogist, 50: 900-908.
KLiMn3+2(Si4O10)2O2(Monoclinic). Hoskins mine, near Grenfell, SE New South Wales. Discovered in 1989 and named after Dr Keith Norrish, CSIRO Soil Division. Eggleton, R.A., and Ashley, P.M., 1989. American Mineralogist, 74: 1360-1367. Photo: P Ovenden © Australian Museum.
(cotype; D52585)
Paceite Cu(CH3COO)2.H2O (Tetragonal). Potosi mine, Broken Hill, New South Wales. Discovered in 2002 and named after local Broken Hill mineral collector, Frank Pace. Hibbs, D.E., Kolitsch, U., Leverett, P., Sharpe, J.L., and Williams, P.A., 2002. Mineralogical Magazine, 66 (3): 459-464.
Sutherland, F.L., Pogson, R.E., Birch, W.D., Henry, D.A., Pring, A., Bevan, A.W.R., Stalder, H.A., and Graham, I.T., 2000. Mineral species first described from Australia and their type specimens. Australian Journal of Mineralogy, 6 (2): 105-128.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2004