Two New Minerals Discovered in Slovakia
Detailed mineralogical research on a unique type of bonanza-style, low-temperature silver–gold mineralisation at the Šibeničný vrch site near Nová Baňa has led to the discovery of two entirely new minerals: auropolybasite and auropearceite. The research was conducted by an international team led by scientists from the Earth Science Institute of the SAS.
Both newly identified minerals occur as irregular grains up to 0.2 mm in size. They are associated with other silver-bearing minerals, including acanthite, argentopolybasite, argentopearceite, pyrargyrite, proustite, stephanite, selenostephanite, rozhdestvenskaite-(Zn), zvestovite-(Zn), zvestovite-(Fe), naumannite, and native gold.
“This discovery significantly broadens our understanding of minerals belonging to the polybasite group and provides new insights into the formation of bonanza-type silver and gold accumulations in nature,” explains Martin Števko from the Earth Science Institute of the SAS.
The study was carried out by an international team of researchers from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Denmark, led by mineralogists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Tomáš Mikuš, Jozef Vlasáč, and Martin Števko).
A detailed description of both minerals has been published in the journal American Mineralogist.
Source and photo: Martin Števko, Earth Science Institute of the SAS