Changes its color

Researcher discovers new mineral during lockdown

The mineral heimite (image) owes its discovery to the corona lockdown.(Bild: SCNAT/Remo Zanelli)

A mineral found more than 20 years ago in the Glarus Alps in Switzerland has turned out to be a previously unknown species. The unique mineral, christened heimite, owes its discovery to the coronavirus pandemic.

The scientist who found the mineral in the Great Chalt Valley in 1999 took it out of the cellar during the lockdown and examined it under a microscope.

According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), the rock specialist was astonished when he discovered that it was a mineral he had never seen before.

More detailed analyses carried out by the finder, Philippe Roth from the Swiss Seismological Service at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, together with Nicolas Meisser from the cantonal natural science museum Natureum in Lausanne, showed that it was indeed a new type of mineral.

Heimite crystals change color from green (left) to blue under a scanning electron microscope.(Bild: SCNAT/Remo Zanelli)

Novel phenomenon observed
The mineral from the Glarus Alps changes color from green to blue when illuminated by an electron beam from a scanning electron microscope. According to SCNAT, such a chameleon property has never before been observed in any other mineral. The researchers now want to investigate this phenomenon in more detail.

The academy went on to say that homeites from four other Swiss sites have now been discovered during the processing of private and public collections. The mineral has also been found in ancient mines in Laurion, south of Athens, the researchers report.