According to the Global Times, the discovery of the minerals was announced at the opening ceremony of the 11th China Space Day held in Chindgu city of Sichuan province.
The phosphate minerals found in the rock and soil samples collected by the “Çang’ı-5” exploration vehicle were named “magnesiochangizite-(Y)” and “changizite-(Ce)”.
Minerals in the rare earth phosphate category have been classified and approved by the New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification Commission of the International Minerological Association.
CHINA’S SECOND AND THIRD LUNAR MINERAL DISCOVERY
The two minerals are the second and third minerals discovered by China in rock and soil samples collected from the Moon. Chinese scientists had previously reported that they discovered the phosphate mineral they called “changhizite-(Y)” in lunar samples in September 2022.
With the new discoveries, the number of minerals discovered on the Moon to date has increased to 8. Before China, the United States and Russia had pioneered mineral exploration by collecting rock and soil samples from the Moon’s surface.
China sent its first exploration vehicle, Chang-5, to the Moon in November 2020, aiming to collect rock and soil samples from the Moon’s surface, and the vehicle returned to Earth in December 2020 with 1.73 kilograms of rock and soil samples.
