Zhemchuzhnikovite
A smoky-green sodium-magnesium oxalate — an organic mineral of Russian coal mines.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Zhemchuzhnikovite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the organic mineral class, with the chemical formula NaMgAl(C₂O₄)₃·9H₂O.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system. It is a member of the Stepanovite, Oxalate structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 2; specific gravity 1.69; Vitreous luster; optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Zhe, IMA status: approved, named in 1963.
Found in veinlets found at a depth of 230 m in a drill core in the permafrost zone, in brown coal naturally saturated with acetic acid.
It is found associated with Calcite, dolomite, stepanovite.
The mineral was named to honor Yurii Apollonovich Zhemchuzhnikov (1885–1957), specialist in coal geology and petrology, Karpinskii Russian Research Institute of Geology, St. Petersburg, Russia.