Lazaraskeite, a brand new mineral, the first organic mineral that contains glycolate, discovered in our own backyard by University of Arizona Geoscientist Dr. Hexiong Yang and his team. The discovery appears in the latest issue of "American Minerologist".

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Congratulations to University of Arizona Geoscientist Dr. Hexiong Yang and his colleagues for the discovery of a new mineral named lazaraskeite, which has been published in the latest issue of “American Mineralogist, Vol 107, p 509-516, 2022”. Lazaraskeite, with the ideal chemical formula Cu(C2H3O3)2 and two polytypes (M1 and M2), is the first organic mineral that contains glycolate, and was found in the area of Oro Valley at the North of Tucson. Both lazaraskeite-M1 and -M2 occur as euhedral individual crystals (up to 0.20 × 0.20 × 0.80 mm) or aggregates, with the former being more equant crystals (Figure 1) and the latter bladed crystals (Figure 2). Lazaraskeite-M1 is the natural analog of synthetic bis(glycolato)copper(II), Cu(C2H3O3)2, which has been extensively studied for both its scientific and industrial interests. Not only does the discovery of lazaraskeite imply that more glycolate minerals may be found, but also suggests that glycolate minerals may serve as a potential storage for biologically fixed carbon in nature.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of The Feinglos Family Foundation as well as Michael M. Scott, who made this research possible.