The naming of the Irtysh Stone made Irtysh famous all over the world
What kind of new mineral is this? Due to the limited testing equipment of the Keketuohai Mining Bureau at that time, Han Fengming divided it into two parts in 1980 and sent half of it to the Chengdu Institute of Geology, which had relatively advanced domestic analytical equipment at the time, for further research.
Professor Zhang Rubai of Chengdu Institute of Geology initially confirmed Han Fengming’s idea through X-ray powder crystal analysis. The discovery of new minerals requires new structures and new components. In order to obtain a more authoritative conclusion, the samples were sent to the Beijing Academy of Geological Sciences for more precise analysis, which confirmed the previous judgment. With this support, Han Fengming wrote the first draft of a paper on the discovery of new minerals and sent it to Professor Zhang Rubai.
"In order to name 'Stone', Professor Zhang asked for my opinion. I said that I drink the water of the Irtysh River and work by the Irtysh River. It is also in Irtysh." If it is found in the river basin, let’s call it Irtysh Stone,” Han Fengming said. Finally, the paper was published in Acta Mineralogica. However, the discovery of new minerals must be recognized by the International Mineralogical Association, so Professor Zhang sent the paper to the New Mineral Nomenclature Committee of the International Mineralogical Association in the United States for review.
On March 3, 1983, Dr. J.A. Mondarino, chairman of the New Mineral Nomenclature Committee of the International Mineralogical Association and the Ontario Museum of Canada, wrote a letter to Zhang Rubai and Han Fengming, confirming Han Fengming's discovery. At the same time, documents were issued confirming Irtyshite as a new mineral discovered for the first time in the world.
“At first, the stone was the size of a fist. After an analysis, one piece was removed. Later, I only had a piece the size of a fingernail in my hand.” Han Fengming said that he took this precious piece of stone away. The Irtysh Stone was dedicated to the Keketuohai Geological Exhibition Hall and became its treasure.
In 1984, the "Xinjiang Nonferrous News" of the Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals Bureau first published the news that Han Fengming discovered the Irtysh Stone, and then the Central People's Broadcasting Station broadcast the news to the whole country. Subsequently, "People's Daily", Xinjiang People's Broadcasting Station, and "Xinjiang Daily" also reported on this.