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Mineralogical Classification"Lithiomagnesite" - another PWA from China

3rd Nov 2014 17:14 UTCPeter Haas

Kezao Chen (1992): The general characteristics of salt lakes in China. Quaternary Sciences 3(8), 193-202 (in Chinese with English abstract).

PDF downoad: http://www.dsjyj.com.cn/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=9900

There is a table with an overview of minerals reported from salt lakes in Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia on pages 197-198. On page 197, under carbonates, the following entry appears:

锂菱镁石, Li₂Mg(CO₃)₂ - occurrence: northern Tibet

锂菱镁石 translates as "lithiomagnesite" (锂 = lithium, 菱镁石 = magnesite). There is no doubt in this case that a specific name was created (if it had been the intention of the author to note the chemical composition in Chinese, this would have been written e.g. 碳酸镁锂石 - i.e. "lithium-magnesium-carbonate mineral"), which makes the mineral a PWA (published without approval). Considering the apparent scarcity of data - only a name and a bulk composition given - the mineral is probably not even valid.

There is no specific reference given, only two general references for the whole table. One of these deals with salt lakes in Xinjiang and is therefore irrelevant. The other reference is:

Mianping Zheng, Jun Xiang, Xinjun Wei, and Yuan Zheng (1989): Salt lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Beijing Science and Technology Press, pp. 221-226.

That book has an entry on Google Books (search for the Chinese title: 青藏高原盐湖), but there is no preview available.

10th Nov 2014 20:32 UTCPeter Haas

The mineral also appears in the following paper:

Shaoxiu Yang (1991): Saline deposits and minerals of salt lakes in Qinghai-Xizang plateau. Journal of Lake Sciences 3(1), 1-10 (in Chinese with English abstract)

PDF download: http://www.jlakes.org/download/1991/91001.pdf

The table on pages 8-9 also specifies a locality: Zhabuye salt lake.

Now added to the database.