This Tiny Diamond Contains a Mineral That's Never Been Seen Before

(livescience.com) - A schist in the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a geologist's best friend. For proof, look no further than a recently mined diamond that contained a mineral that had never been seen in nature — until now. The discovered mineral — called calcium silicate perovskite (CaSiO3) — was found trapped inside a diamond excavated from South Africa's Cullinan mine (most famous for yielding the world's largest diamond in 1905, part of which now adorns the crown jewels of the United Kingdom). The finding, published online on March 7 in the journal Nature, provides an important clue to the puzzle of how Earth's inner structure behaves.