China Identifies Two New Lunar Minerals from Chang'e 5 Samples

by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Apr 26, 2026
Chinese scientists have identified two new minerals in lunar samples returned by the Chang'e 5 mission in late 2020, bringing the total number of lunar minerals discovered by China to three and the global count of named lunar minerals to eight.

The announcement was made on Friday at an event in Chengdu, Sichuan province, held to mark China's 11th Space Day. The China National Space Administration confirmed that both minerals have been reviewed and formally approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association.

The two new minerals are named magnesiochangesite-(Y) and changesite-(Ce). They follow changesite-(Y), which Chinese scientists identified in 2022 and which was the first lunar mineral discovered by China.

Magnesiochangesite-(Y) was found by a research team led by Li Ziying, a senior scientist at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology under the China National Nuclear Corp. The mineral was located within basalt clasts in drill-collected lunar samples, with individual grain sizes ranging from approximately two to 30 micrometers.

Changesite-(Ce) was identified by a team led by Hou Zengqian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. It has been confirmed in both Chang'e 5 samples and in a lunar meteorite that landed within China. The mineral occurs along the margins of anorthite, ferrosilite, fluorapatite and ilmenite crystals, with grain sizes of approximately three to 15 micrometers.

Both substances are rare earth phosphate minerals embedded within fine lunar soil particles. The space administration described them as having delicate and unique crystal structures with no direct mineral equivalents found on Earth.

All three of China's lunar mineral discoveries belong to the merrillite group, a class of phosphate minerals found in samples from the moon, Mars and asteroids. While merrillite group minerals are common across planetary bodies, scientists have observed significant compositional diversity and uneven distribution between different planetary environments.

The space administration said the new finds will provide important scientific evidence for further research into the moon's material composition, geological history and formation processes. The discoveries are considered significant for advancing understanding of both the moon and planetary science more broadly.

The Chang'e 5 mission, completed in December 2020, returned 1,731 grams of lunar rocks and soil to Earth - the first lunar samples collected from the moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976. The mission made China the third country after the United States and the Soviet Union to retrieve materials from the lunar surface.

The landing and sampling site selected for Chang'e 5 is geologically younger than those used by NASA's Apollo program and the Soviet Luna missions. Senior scientist Li said this distinction makes the mineralogical characteristics of the Chang'e 5 samples notably different from earlier collections.

Li noted that magnesiochangesite-(Y) features a unique crystal structure and compositional profile that differ from previously known members of the merrillite group. He said the mineral's discovery broadens the inventory of identified lunar minerals and provides a new reference point for research into the moon's formation, volcanic history and chemical differentiation processes.