Liguowuite - Mineral Named After China's Mineralogist Li Guowu

Liguowuite, a new mineral named after outstanding China's mineralogist Professor Li Guowu, has just passed the certification of the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names of International Mineralogical Association (IMA-CNMNC). The discovery of three unique new minerals containing tungsten is an important discovery in mineralogy in recent years. It owns the same homology and genetic relationship with the previously discovered tungsten tellurite and ebony stone.

The liguowuite is the third new mineral discovered at the same mining site near Nanyang Village, Huaping County, Yunnan, in the southern Panxi region. The first two are the tungsten tellurite (Tewite, simplified molecular formula: K1.5 (Te, W) 1.5W5O19, IMA2014-053) and wumuite (simplified molecular formula: KAl0.33W2.67O9, IMA2017-067a).

Liguowuite is a natural mineral with pure WO3 chemical composition. Scanning electron microscopy studies have found that the mineral is composed of nano-scale crystal grains with a triclinic columnar appearance of crystal illusion. The mineral is named after Professor Li Guowu from the Academy of Sciences of the China University of Geosciences, to remember his outstanding contributions in the field of new minerals and mineral crystallography.

Tewite is composed of semi-metal tellurium, tungsten and potassium. It is currently the only natural mineral of K-Te-W. It is also the world's first discovery of a new naturally occurring tungsten bronze derivative structure. Tungsten oxide octahedrons are connected at the top angles. In a hexagonal ring-shaped channel structure. This discovery has great theoretical and practical significance for studying the crystal chemical properties of tellurium. It was selected as the IMA2019 mineral by the International Mineralogy Association.

Wumuite is another new mineral containing potassium and tungsten after tewite. It is also the first natural mineral with a tungsten bronze structure to be discovered in the world. It has a hexagonal tungsten bronze structure, WO octahedrons are connected to form a hexagonal ring-shaped channel structure at the same vertex angle, and K is distributed in the hexagonal channel.

The research and discovery of new minerals is an exploratory work of innovative significance. The discovery is an important contribution to basic mineralogy and enjoys an international reputation. The mineral naming will be recognized by all countries in the world after it is approved by IMA-CNMNC.

The discovery of the Liguowuite means a lot in the research of new minerals. Professor Li Guowu is the heir and inheritor of the research field of mineral crystal structure and crystal chemistry. He has made a series of important achievements in the research of new minerals and mineral crystal structure and crystal chemistry in China. The studies ran by Pro. Li have made outstanding contributions to the research of new minerals and crystal chemistry.