Prospektiteooriana

Prospektiteooriana is a fictional mineral species used in geology education and speculative fiction to illustrate mineral naming, classification, and deposit geology. It is not an officially recognized mineral, and no specimens are catalogued in real mineral databases such as the IMA.

Etymology: The name combines the element prospect, referring to ore prospecting, with the common mineral suffix -ite and the coined ending -ooriana, drawn from the fictional Oriana region often used in illustrative examples.

Physical and chemical description (fictional): In the standard fictional description, prospektiteooriana is a monoclinic mineral with a vitreous to pearly luster, Mohs hardness around 4.5, and a specific gravity of about 3.1–3.5. Its composition is described as a copper-iron silicate with trace aluminum and potassium; crystal habit ranges from tabular crystals to thin plates, frequently forming foliated aggregates.

Occurrence: According to the fictional scenario, it forms in hydrothermal veins within young sedimentary basins, typically in low-temperature settings around 150–250 degrees Celsius. It commonly co-occurs with minerals such as chalcopyrite, quartz, and epidote.

Detection and nomenclature: In the narrative, samples are identified by standard mineralogical methods, including optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe analysis. The naming follows IMA-style conventions in the story, even though the mineral does not exist in reality.

Usage and purpose: The term is used to illustrate how mineral names are constructed and described, as well as to demonstrate the workflow of mineral discovery, characterization, and documentation in teaching materials and fictional works.