Discovery of Ilmenite

Ilmenite or titano ferrite is a mineral having the chemical formula FeO·TiO₂ or FeTiO_3.  For the first time ilmenite has been found in the Ilmen Mountains, located in the Urals, from which it derives its name.

First crystals of ilmenite were found in 1824. Originally it has been mistaken for tantalite. In 2826 Johannes Menge, outstanding geologist and scientist, visited the Ilmen Mountains, sampled and describe the mineral of black color and  submetallic luster. Later, brothers Gustav and Heinrich Rose who were German mineralogists and scientists studied the new mineral and named it ilmenite after the locality of its first discovery.

In 1827 Adolph Theodor Kupffer, Russian scientist, chemist, physicist, metrologist, who has founded the first Depot of Standard Weights and Measures in Russia, gave a detailed description of ilmenite for the first time. In the same year he published his article “Ilmenit. Krystall. d. Augits & Rothbleierzes”. (Ilmenite. Cristalisation of augite and red lead ore) in the Kastner, Arch. Naturl. X  Magazine.

Johannes Menge (1788—1852)	Gustav Rose (1798—1873)	Adolph Kupffer (1799—1865)

By the end of XIX c. the Ilmen Mountains became practice area for Russian and foreign geologists and mineralogists. At that time mineralogy in Russia began to develop as a scientific field. Gornyi Zhurnal (Mining Journal) containing mining news and expedition results started to be issued. 20 research papers of Russian geologists and mining engineers and 22 research papers of foreign chemists and mineralogists on the Ilmen Mountains were published.

Nowadays, there is the only mineralogical reserve in the world located at the foothills of the Southern Urals that was established for protection and study of the entrails of the world. By the present time, more than 270 different minerals have been found in the Ilmen Mountains. Moreover, about 17 of these minerals have been found for the first time ever.