China says it discovered 2 new lunar minerals

China Friday announced it had discovered two new lunar minerals, state media reported.

The minerals were discovered from the lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 mission, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The Chang'e-5 mission returned to Earth in December 2020, bringing home some 1,731 grams of lunar samples from Oceanus Procellarum -- China's first lunar samples -- and also marking the first lunar samples brought to Earth in 44 years.

The CNSA identified the minerals as magnesiochangesite-(Y) and changesite-(Ce), taking the overall number of minerals discovered from the moon to eight globally.

Earlier, the Chinese astronauts had discovered their first lunar mineral, changesite-(Y), in 2022.

During the opening ceremony of the 2026 Space Day of China in Chengdu, capital of southwestern China's Sichuan province, the CNSA said the minerals were approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association.

In 2019, China conducted a historic first landing on the far side of the moon by the Chang'e-4 probe.