Smithsonian Scientists Find New Mineral in Museum’s Quartz Collection : Geology: The discovery of moganite can help point the way to petroleum deposits and give clues in forming of man-made crystals.

For centuries, people have been intrigued by quartz crystals. The ancient Sumerians cut and polished quartz crystals into signet rings and beads. The Crusaders wore quartz amulets for protection in battle.

And today, everything from good luck to good health is attributed to “energy” from this abundant mineral. And everything from computer chips to medical equipment is made with it.

Now scientists at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History have identified a new mineral--moganite--in the museum’s collection of quartz specimens.

Dr. Jeffrey Post, a curator in the museum’s department of mineral sciences, says moganite, which always occurs with quartz crystals, is concentrated in “evaporate deposits,” typically the site of an extinct body of salt water. In turn, these sites commonly yield petroleum and other mineral deposits.

“The possible economic ramifications are manifold,” Post said. “Moganite concentration in certain areas might lead geologists to rich reserves of petroleum and other non-renewable resources.”

Most people are familiar with the large, eye-catching quartz crystals used in jewelry, pop culture and the glass industry. But an entire subgroup of microcrystalline quartz crystals cannot be seen with the naked eye. They make up flint, chert and agate.

It was in these fine-grained specimens that Post, using X-rays, found moganite. Post and co-investigator Dr. Peter J. Heaney of Princeton University found that moganite occurs in almost all microcrystalline quartz from all over the world, with concentrations that vary from 10% to 95%.

The specimens richest in moganite come from Puerto Mogan in the Canary Islands--hence the name moganite. In 1895, Post said, French scientists first recognized “something different” in a few quartz specimens in France. Scientists could not figure out what they detected, and the matter was dropped. Now, Post said, moganite may well be the “something different” first reported by the French.

“One of the very surprising aspects of this discovery is that we didn’t understand everything about this common and ubiquitous material,” Post said. “This type of breakthrough provides scientists with continued incentive to study what we have always thought of as common, perhaps unremarkable, materials.”

Aside from leading geologists to new petroleum deposits, “the discovery of moganite could point to new clues about how quartz crystals grow naturally,” Post said. “This might lead to significant industrial implications, such as producing better synthetic quartz and producing it faster.”

The process of producing synthetic quartz crystals was successfully commercialized in the 1950s. Today, 1,000 metric tons (or about 2.2 million pounds) of quartz are grown worldwide each year; 75% is produced in the United States.

“Cultured quartz is more readily utilized than natural quartz because it is purer and more uniform,” explained Richard Monley of Thermo Dynamics Corp., a quartz-growing business in Merriam, Kan. “The enhanced purity allows it to be used over a wider range of temperatures and environments.”

Arkansas is the best source in the United States for high-quality, natural quartz “seeds” from which cultured quartz is grown.

The hall, designed to showcase the world-renowned National Gem and Mineral Collection, will close in the spring of 1994 and reopen as the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals in early 1996. The renovation will allow the museum to double the current number of gem and mineral specimens on display.