Reititetyn

Reititetyn is a fictional mineral that appears in speculative geology and world-building texts. It is described as a dense, metallic mineral with a distinctive steel-gray to blue-steel fracture and a high refractive index in thin section.

Etymology and discovery: The name honors the fictional researcher Dr. Reita Tenn, who is credited with first describing the mineral in 2098 in the Eridani Belt. The type locality is the Kestrel Ridge ultramafic complex, a remote deposit that, in the narrative, supplies all known specimens.

Properties: Reititetyn is said to crystallize in the tetragonal system with a formula ReTiTe3. In hand sample it displays a metallic luster, hardness around 6.5 on Mohs and a density near 9.6 g/cm3. Cleavage is imperfect and fractures conchoidal to uneven.

Occurrence and geology: It is described as a rare sulfide-sulfosalt associated mineral formed under high-temperature magmatic differentiation. The deposits are reported to occur in restricted pockets within sulfide-saturated intrusions, often with coexisting minerals such as pyrrhotite and pentlandite, in the fictional Eridani region.

Applications and significance: In the narratives, reititetyn is valued for its proposed semiconducting properties and potential use in high-temperature electronics and photonics, though no natural class-wide exploitation exists in the fictional setting. It serves as a plot device to illustrate mineralogical rarity and exploration challenges.