# New Mineral Discovered--Newslink **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993 "2014-04-25T22:02:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/1 "2014-04-25T22:02:08Z")
Funky purple mineral discovered in Australia–Putnistie. Note– **not** “Putin-ite”. No Russky honorifics applied. [http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/science/140424/the-worlds-newest-mineral-unlike-anything-weve-ever-seen](http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/science/140424/the-worlds-newest-mineral-unlike-anything-weve-ever-seen) > [@](#): > > “Most minerals belong to a family or small group of related minerals, or if they aren’t related to other minerals they often are to a synthetic compound, but putnisite is completely unique and unrelated to anything,” said Dr. Peter Elliott, lead author of a new study detailing the discovery in Mineralogical Magazine. > > The transluscent purple crystals with a pink streak through the middle were discovered by a mining company in the Polar Bear peninsula of Western Australia. > What’s got scientists so intrigued by the mineral is its composition. > > It’s a rare combination of strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen that’s completely distinct from any of the other 4,000 known minerals in the world ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/2 "2014-04-25T22:11:15Z")
Where does the disco red part come in? What sort of shade is disco red? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/3 "2014-04-25T22:56:56Z")
I had to laugh at the “Its commercial use has yet to be determined” remark. “A brand new mineral! Who do we sell it to?” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/4 "2014-04-25T23:14:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Where does the disco red part come in? What sort of shade is disco red? Apparently [this is](http://www.colorcombos.com/colors/911840). ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/5 "2014-04-26T00:54:24Z")
Well, I want some. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/6 "2014-04-28T00:12:52Z")
Why the hell can’t they give its exact chemical composition (even a continuous gradation?) Do they think readers are all at the sixth grade? ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/7 "2014-04-29T12:56:51Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Why the hell can’t they give its exact chemical composition (even a continuous gradation?) Do they think readers are all at the sixth grade? [Putnisite, SrCa4Cr3+8(CO3)8SO4(OH)16·25H2O, a new mineral from Western Australia: description and crystal structure](http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/minsoc/mag/2014/00000078/00000001/art00010) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mineral-discovered-newslink/686993/8 "2014-04-29T14:11:30Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Why the hell can’t they give its exact chemical composition (even a continuous gradation?) Do they think readers are all at the sixth grade? Well, the full composition is undetermined. The extra stuff probably isn’t tar, though.