mNACTEC will exhibit a fragment of abellaita

Abellaita is the first new mineral species discovered in Catalonia

The National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC) will be displaying a fragment of abellaita, the first new mineral species discovered in Catalonia by Joan Abella i Creus in the exhibition “Everything is Chemistry”.

The agreement for the display of the mineral was finalised today in an event held in Palau Moja in Barcelona, in the presence of Joan Abella, mineralogist and discoverer of the new species; Jordi Ibáñez, doctor at Jaume Almera Insititute (CSIC) and director of the research to determine the new mineral; Àlex Susanna, director of the Catalan Agency for Cultural Heritage; Pere Palacín, Director General for Energy, Mines and Industrial Security, and Jaume Perarnau, director of mNACTEC.

Abellaita is a basic lead and sodium carbonate with the chemical formula NaPb2(CO3)2(OH). Discovered by Joan Abella i Creus and named after him, this mineral species was first discovered in 2010 in a mine in the municipality of Torre de Capdella, in Vall Fosca (Pallars Jussà).

press-clock 16 March 2017