The mines at Merelani in Tanzania are not only already famous for the gemstones tanzanite, tsavorite, scapolite etc. but also for the superbly well crystallised sulphide minerals namely pyrite, wurtzite and of course alabandite, all coming to prominence in more recent times.
Now there is a new mineral discovery from here to add even more distinction to an otherwise classic locality.
The mineral merelaniite has just been approved with name adopted from the type locality and in tribute to the miners who work there.
The mineral itself is a member of the cylindrite group actually looking a lot like isolated cylindrite scrolls.
It contains Molybdenum, and has the chemical formula - Mo4Pb4VSbS15. We have added merelaniite to the our database, and there are links below to the main online articles covering the discovery.
