A new mineral has been discovered with potential for yttrium and rare earth elements

I just enjoyed reading a story in the 1/23/11 edition of the Bangor Daily News about a new mineral discovery made by Jeffery Marsh a graduate student from the University of Maine and had to post on it.

Some Quotes form the story:

ORONO — Jeffrey Marsh was the first person in the world to lay eyes on menzerite-Y, a species of garnet.
Marsh, 33, of Oakland made the discovery in 2009 while working on his doctorate at the University of Maine.

Marsh is a native of San Diego, Calif., who earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in his home state. He collected the rock in which the new mineral was found in Ontario, Canada, along the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. Not until Marsh got the 1-inch square sample under a microscope did he make his discovery.

Although menzerite-Y is a garnet, it is not large or showy, according to Edward Grew, the research professor of earth science at UMaine who oversaw Marsh’s work. “The size of a new mineral has little bearing on its scientific significance,” Grew said in an e-mail. “Far more important than size is the mineral’s significance to science. Jeff's new mineral is particularly significant because many common garnets, including those found in Maine, contain some yttrium and rare earth elements. [They] are unusually abundant in Jeff's mineral and make it a new species.”

Link to Full Story

Congratulations Mr Marsh. This is great news and proves that not all of the earths secrets have been uncovered. I shall have to start paying more attention to garnets now. Recently I was working on a property in Newfoundland Canada that has a considerable amount of garnets spread over a fairly wide area. As a result today, I was searching for information on garnets and their potential and lo and behold up puts a story on this fresh new mineral discovery concerning a new type of garnet.

It is good to hear that the new mineral has enriched yttrium and other Rare Earth Elements. I watch for news about new deposit discoveries that may be important to the prospecting business,  this story is special and unique as it isn't every day that new minerals get discovered. Again Congratulations!

Happy Prospecting