Michigan. The scientific analysis of merelaniite, the 2016 “mineral of the year” according to the International Mineral Association (Ima) bears the name of a Florentine researcher, Luca Bindi from the Department of Earth Sciences according the University of Florence website. Bindi contributed to the survey published in the journal “Minerals”, and conducted by John Jaszczak of Michigan Technological University, dealing with the structural part and arrangement of atoms. “It is a mineral that has peculiar characteristics and an original chemical composition,” explains Bindi, “it is part of the cylindroid group and has interesting properties as a conductor that could be exploited in the industrial environment in the future”. Merelaniite has a dark gray color and owes its name to Merelani’s mines in the Manyara area (Tanzania) where it was discovered. (9Colonne)
