Named after Dr. Qingsong Fang (方青松) (1939-2010), professor at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, who discovered the first diamonds in Tibet in the late 1970s (in the Luobusa chromitite), and who found the species yarlongite, zangboite, qusongite, and luobusaite.

Type Locality:

ⓘ Orebody 31 (Chromite deposit 31), Luobusha Mine ("Luobusa" Mine), Luobusha ophiolite ("Luobusa ophiolite"), Qusum Co. (Qusong Co.), Shannan Prefecture (Lhokha Prefecture; Lhoka Prefecture), Tibet, China

Isostructural with:

Sphalerite

The natural analog of cubic boron nitride (c-BN), used industrially as an abrasive ("Borazon"), ever since first being synthesized in 1957, which was 52 years before the natural mineral was discovered in 2009.

Sphalerite structure type.

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Unique IdentifiersHide

Mindat ID:

43792

Long-form identifier:

mindat:1:1:43792:7

IMA Classification of QingsongiteHide

IMA status:

Approved

IMA Formula:

BN^3-

Approval year:

2013

First published:

2014

Type description reference:

Dobrzhinetskaya, L. F., Wirth, R., Yang, J., Green, H. W., Hutcheon, I. D., Weber, P. K., Grew, E. S. (2014) Qingsongite, natural cubic boron nitride: The first boron mineral from the Earth's mantle. American Mineralogist, 99 (4) 764-772 doi:10.2138/am.2014.4714

Classification of QingsongiteHide

Strunz-mindat (2026):

1.BC.

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
B : Metallic Carbides, Silicides, Nitrides, Phosphides and Hydrides
C : Nitrides

Mineral SymbolsHide

As of 2021 there are now IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols (abbreviations) for each mineral species, useful for tables and diagrams.

Symbol	Source	Reference for Standard
Qsg	IMA–CNMNC	Warr, L.N. (2021). IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine, 85(3), 291-320. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43

Pronunciation of QingsongiteHide

Pronunciation:

Play	Recorded by	Country
	Jolyon Ralph	United Kingdom

Physical Properties of QingsongiteHide

Hardness:

9 - 10 on Mohs scale

Density:

3.46 g/cm³ (Calculated)

Comment:

Calculated for the mean composition B1.100N0.900

Chemistry of QingsongiteHide

Mindat Formula:

Element Weights:

Element	% weight
N	56.438 %
B	43.562 %

Calculated from ideal end-member formula.

Elements listed:

B, N - search for minerals with similar chemistry

Crystallography of QingsongiteHide

Crystal System:

Isometric

Class (H-M):

43m - Hextetrahedral

Space Group:

F43m

Cell Parameters:

a = 3.61 Å

Unit Cell V:

47.05 Å³ (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Morphology:

Isolated anhedral single crystals up to 1 μm in size.

Comment:

a = 3.61 ± 0.045 Å. Synthetic analog has space group F4̄3m

Crystal StructureHide

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Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure

ID	Species	Reference	Link	Year	Locality	Pressure (GPa)	Temp (K)
0011512	Qingsongite	Wyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York Crystal Structures 1 85-237		1963		0	293

CIF Raw Data - click here to close

data_global
_chemical_name_mineral 'Qingsongite'
loop_
_publ_author_name
'Wyckoff R W G'
_journal_name_full 'Crystal Structures'
_journal_volume 1 
_journal_year 1963
_journal_page_first 85
_journal_page_last 237
_publ_section_title
;
 Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York
 Note: ZnS structure, sphalerite structure
;
_database_code_amcsd 0011512
_chemical_formula_sum 'B N'
_cell_length_a 3.615
_cell_length_b 3.615
_cell_length_c 3.615
_cell_angle_alpha 90
_cell_angle_beta 90
_cell_angle_gamma 90
_cell_volume 47.242
_exptl_crystal_density_diffrn      3.489
_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'F -4 3 m'
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  '1/2+z,1/2+y,x'
  'y,x,z'
  'y,1/2+x,1/2+z'
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  '1/2+y,1/2+x,z'
  '-z,-x,y'
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  '1/2-x,-y,1/2+z'
  '1/2-x,1/2-y,z'
  'z,-x,-y'
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  '1/2+z,-x,1/2-y'
  '1/2+z,1/2-x,-y'
  'y,-z,-x'
  'y,1/2-z,1/2-x'
  '1/2+y,-z,1/2-x'
  '1/2+y,1/2-z,-x'
  'x,-y,-z'
  'x,1/2-y,1/2-z'
  '1/2+x,-y,1/2-z'
  '1/2+x,1/2-y,-z'
  '-x,z,-y'
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  '-y,x,-z'
  '-y,1/2+x,1/2-z'
  '1/2-y,x,1/2-z'
  '1/2-y,1/2+x,-z'
  '-x,-z,y'
  '-x,1/2-z,1/2+y'
  '1/2-x,-z,1/2+y'
  '1/2-x,1/2-z,y'
  '-z,-y,x'
  '-z,1/2-y,1/2+x'
  '1/2-z,-y,1/2+x'
  '1/2-z,1/2-y,x'
  '-y,-x,z'
  '-y,1/2-x,1/2+z'
  '1/2-y,-x,1/2+z'
  '1/2-y,1/2-x,z'
  'z,x,y'
  'z,1/2+x,1/2+y'
  '1/2+z,x,1/2+y'
  '1/2+z,1/2+x,y'
  'y,z,x'
  'y,1/2+z,1/2+x'
  '1/2+y,z,1/2+x'
  '1/2+y,1/2+z,x'
loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
B   0.00000   0.00000   0.00000
N   0.25000   0.25000   0.25000

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

Powder Diffraction Data:

d-spacing	Intensity
2.088 Å	(100)
1.808 Å	(8)
1.277 Å	(20)
1.090 Å	(10)
0.904 Å	(3)
0.830 Å	(8)

Locality:

Orebody 31 (Chromite deposit 31), Luobusha Mine ("Luobusa" Mine), Luobusha ophiolite ("Luobusa ophiolite"), Qusum Co. (Qusong Co.), Shannan Prefecture (Lhokha Prefecture; Lhoka Prefecture), Tibet, China

Reference:

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):

Paragenetic Mode	Earliest Age (Ga)
Stage 3a: Earth’s earliest Hadean crust	>4.50
7 : Ultramafic igneous rocks
Stage 4b: Highly evolved igneous rocks	>3.0
36 : Carbonatites, kimberlites, and related igneous rocks
Stage 5: Initiation of plate tectonics	<3.5-2.5
38 : Ophiolites
39 : High-? metamorphism (blueschist, eclogite, ultrahigh ? facies)

Type Occurrence of QingsongiteHide

Type Locality:

General Appearance of Type Material:

Isolated anhedral single crystals from 100 nm up to 1 μm in size in chromitite.

Place of Conservation of Type Material:

Geological Museum of China, Xisi, West District, Beijing, PRC, catalogue number M 11843.

Geological Setting of Type Material:

Ophiolite, derived from ~300 km deep in the mantle.

Associated Minerals at Type Locality:

Coesite

Kyanite

Osbornite

Reference:

Synonyms of QingsongiteHide

Borazon

IMA2013-030

UM2009-32-N:B

Other Language Names for QingsongiteHide

Dutch:Qingsongiet

German:Qingsongit

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat Grouping Hide

1.BC.	'UM2007-16-N:Ti'	Ti₇N₃
1.BC.	Oreillyite	Cr₂N	Trig. 3m(32/m) : P31m
1.BC.05	Roaldite	(Fe,Ni)₄N	Iso. m3m(4/m32/m) : Pm3n
1.BC.10	Siderazot	FeN_x to Fe₃N_1.33	Hex. 622 : P6₃22
1.BC.15	Carlsbergite	CrN	Iso. m3m(4/m32/m) : Fm3m
1.BC.15	Uakitite	VN	Iso. m3m(4/m32/m) : Fm3m
1.BC.15	Osbornite	TiN	Iso. m3m(4/m32/m) : Fm3m
1.BC.20	'UM2006-34-N:Ga'	GaN	Hex. 6mm : P6₃mc

Other InformationHide

Health Risks:

No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

Internet Links for QingsongiteHide

mindat.org URL:

https://www.mindat.org/min-43792.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

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Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project

References and PDF downloads at RRUFF project

American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database

Mineral Dealers:

Buy from D. Joyce minerals

References for QingsongiteHide

Reference List:

Williams, P. A., Hatert, F., Pasero, M., Mills, S. J. (2013) New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2013. CNMNC Newsletter No 16. Mineralogical Magazine, 77 (6) 2695-2709 doi:10.1180/minmag.2013.077.6.01

Localities for QingsongiteHide

Showing 1 localities.

This map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the

symbol to view information about a locality. The

symbol next to localities in the list can be used to jump to that position on the map.

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Locality ListHide

- This locality has map coordinates listed.

- This locality has estimated coordinates. ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence. ? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality.

- Good crystals or important locality for species.

- World class for species or very significant. (TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties). ~~Struck out~~ - Mineral was erroneously reported from this locality. Faded * - Never found at this locality but inferred to have existed at some point in the past (e.g. from pseudomorphs).

All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.

China (TL)

Tibet

Shannan Prefecture (Lhokha Prefecture; Lhoka Prefecture)

Qusum Co. (Qusong Co.)

Luobusha ophiolite ("Luobusa ophiolite")

Luobusha Mine ("Luobusa" Mine)

ⓘ Orebody 31 (Chromite deposit 31) (TL)

Williams et al. (2013) +2 other references

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Qingsongite