Rare Discovery by Brandon Chapman '02 Noted on Web Site

June 20, 2003

June 20, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - "While conducting research at the site of a former coal mine, DePauw University student Brandon Chapman discovered only the second known deposit of a mineral, called xitieshanite -- and the first in this hemisphere -- only 40 miles from the campus," notes a news item at Indiana Daily Insight. "The brilliant lime-green mineral was previously found in Xitieshan, China, in 1983; thus, its name. With a chemical formula of Fe3+(SO4)Cl·6H2O, it is a combination of iron, sulphur, and chlorine."

The story about Chapman, a 2002 DePauw graduate, continues, "Through a Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Grant, Chapman, a sociology and anthropology major, worked last summer with Erik B. Melchiorre, assistant professor of geology and geography, to collect water samples at the site of the former Green Valley underground coal mine, located north of Terre Haute. Chapman brought the crystal samples back to campus in the fall and pursued further study with help from James G. Mills, associate professor of geology and geography, who tested the samples using the geology department's x-ray diffraction machine."