Colorless/white crystals of the extremely rare zirconium mineral yusupovite (IMA 2014-022) from the type and only known locality worldwide (Dara-i-Pioz Glacier, Tien Shan Mountains, Region of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan) in a small matrix of purple kentbrooksite. Ex.Dr. Igor.V. P. Pekov authour specimen. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Yusupovite
Yusupovite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Na₂Zr(Si₆O₁₅)(H₂O)₃.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group C2/m).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5; specific gravity 2.69; White streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Ypv, IMA status: approved, named in 2014.
Found in glacial moraine derived from an alkaline igneous complex.
It is found associated with Reedmergnerite, quartz, pectolite, zeravshanite, mendeleevite-(Ce), fluorite, leucosphenite, a pyrochlore-group mineral, neptunite, telyushenkoite.
The mineral was named to honor Rustam Gumirovich Yusupov (b. 1935), a Uzbek mineralogist and curator at the Geological Museum, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.