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Hannayite mineral

Hannayite is the hydrated ammonium magnesium hydrogen-phosphate mineral species (NH4)2Mg3(PO3OH)4(H2O)8. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1879, not a new-mineral approval identifier. It is distinct from elemental phosphorus or magnesium, guano as a mixed resource, and schertelite, newberyite, struvite and bobierrite. The accepted experimental record concerns chemical crystallization and alteration without microorganisms; association of these minerals with guano does not establish a microbial mechanism. Constituent criticality is not inherited.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (2)

Abiotic crystallization from concentrated ammonium phosphate solutions

other

Reagent experiments formed synthetic hannayite crystals without microorganisms. Chemical composition, powder diffraction, selected-crystal diffraction and optical observations supported the phase assignment. This is a laboratory preparation, not microbial recovery or demonstrated industrial production.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Frazier et al. pages 636-638 prepared hannayite at 25 degrees C by adding 4.3 g magnesium acetate to 32.2 g NH4H2PO4 and 3.1 g ammonium acetate in 100 mL water. Magnesium acetate hydration is not specified, so a molar magnesium loading is not inferred. A separate 100 degrees C preparation slowly added 5 g magnesium acetate without stirring to 150 g NH4H2PO4 and 10 g ammonium acetate in 100 mL water. Acetate was added to promote larger and better-shaped crystals. The paper gives no isolated yield or time-resolved formation rate.
Curated Evidence Points:
Pages 636-638 describe the preparations, chemical analyses of two typical preparations, powder diffraction in Table 1 and single-crystal examination of selected clear prisms. Holohedral symmetry was reported across about 50 preparations, which is not a stated replicate count for a recovery-yield measurement. The paper distinguishes the synthetic crystals from earlier optical data ascribed with reservations to natural hannayite.
The broad pH 3.5-6 and temperature 25-100 degrees C statement on page 640 applies jointly to concentrated-solution hannayite and schertelite formation; it is not a phase-pure operating window or the measured pH of either recipe. No controlled microbial comparison, product mass balance or deployment evidence is reported.

Condition-dependent aqueous alteration of synthetic hannayite

other

The study reports different alteration products in concentrated ammonium-phosphate solution and in water. These observations establish handling-sensitive abiotic phase context without identifying a biological pathway.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
At 100 degrees C, extending the concentrated-solution preparation for several days caused initially formed hannayite to dissolve while schertelite crystallized. Separately, page 640 reports incongruent hannayite dissolution in water at 25 degrees C and replacement by a mixture of newberyite and struvite in less than a week. Water volume, solid loading, replicate counts and time-resolved phase fractions for the latter statement are not supplied.
Curated Evidence Points:
Page 638 describes the extended 100 degrees C preparation and page 640 the water-alteration observation. The distinct solution conditions and products are retained; neither statement measures recovery efficiency or proves a universal reaction sequence.
The abstract on page 635 says hannayite and schertelite alter hydrolytically to mixtures of struvite and schertelite, whereas the detailed body on page 640 specifies hannayite replacement by newberyite plus struvite and rapid schertelite dissolution to struvite. This internal product conflict is unresolved; the record adopts only the explicitly scoped body observations and does not silently correct the source. Pages 640-641 propose these chemical processes as explanations for guano mineral mixtures but do not test microbial causality.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Pages 1-2 definitions; hannayite row page 89. Previously acquired official original re-inspected on 14 October 2026.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-14)
  2. frazier_1963: Frazier, A. William; Lehr, James R.; Smith, James P. (1963). The magnesium phosphates hannayite, schertelite and bobierrite. American Mineralogist 48:635-641. Complete seven-page Mineralogical Society of America original visually inspected, including Table 1 and chemical analyses.
    https://msaweb.org/AmMin/AM48/AM48_635.pdf (accessed 2026-10-14)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-14T10:03:48.961555+00:00 codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Created hannayite mineral identity with primary abiotic crystallization and condition-dependent alteration, retaining the source product conflict and no inferred microbial causality.

Record source: data/records/hannayite.yaml