Shungite and Fullerenes

I am currently writing a book that includes shungite, but
I can't fit all the geeky details in, and I think it would be boring to read anyway, so I'm writing them here as a break (lol).

We started seeing shungite at mineral shows and natural stone shops between the late 2000s and around 2010. Before that, it was a niche item that mineral collectors held onto specifically as a 'rare carbonaceous rock found in the Karelia region of Russia.'

There are several clear reasons why the market took off.

1. The shock of the discovery of fullerenes (late 1990s–)

Natural fullerenes were discovered in shungite in 1992, and the discoverers of fullerenes won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.
This scientific news trickled down to the spiritual and wellness industries a few years later.
It was like, 'There's a miracle stone that contains Nobel Prize-level components!'

2. The influence of books like 'The Crystal Bible'

Its popularity exploded after shungite was introduced in books like those by Judy Hall, which are read around the world as bibles for natural stones, starting in the 2000s.
Furthermore, in 2014, Regina Martino of France published a specialized book on shungite and electromagnetic fields (EMF), which caused it to spread rapidly into the general market, especially in Europe, as a 'stone for EMF protection.'

How was shungite treated before that?

So, what was it like before that? It wasn't in the mineral market, but rather in the framework of 'historical health spas and medicine in Russia' and 'mundane industrial materials.'

18th Century (Era of Peter the Great): Spas and medicine within Russia
In the early 1700s, Peter the Great of Russia declared that water springing from shungite layers in the Karelia region was 'good for illnesses,' and he built Russia's first spa (sanatorium) for the treatment of soldiers and his own recuperation.
From this time on, it was famous within Russia as a 'black stone that is good for health,' but this was strictly treated as local medicine and folklore.

End of the 19th Century (1879): Scientific naming

It was in 1879 that it was scientifically named 'Shungite.' At that time, the name was given to 'a strange black, lustrous substance with a carbon content of over 98% (what is now Elite Shungite).'

20th Century (Soviet Era): Hardcore industrial material

During the Soviet era, shungite was strictly an 'industrial mineral resource.'

• Pigment for black paint (printing ink)

• Casting molds and metal reducing agents in ironworks

• Thermal insulation for buildings and black construction material for decorating massive Russian structures (such as St. Isaac's Cathedral)

• Large-scale 'water filtration system filters'

During the Soviet era, it wasn't treated with the sentimentality of civilians wearing it as bracelets; it was a 'carbon resource' dug up by heavy machinery and used in factories.

...So, what is shungite?

Shungite is not classified as a "mineral," but rather as a "rock (carbonaceous sedimentary rock)" formed by a mixture of various components.
Its main component is carbon, but because it is a complex stone formed by the mixing of Earth's magma and seafloor mud, it contains many elements and minerals other than carbon.

1. Basic structure of Shungite (carbon-based)
Most of Shungite is made of "amorphous carbon," which is carbon that does not have a regular crystalline structure (a state different from diamond or graphite).
Depending on the purity of this carbon, Shungite is broadly divided into two types.
Elite Shungite (Noble Shungite)
A rare type composed of 90% to 98% carbon.
It is characterized by a metallic, glittering appearance and breaks like glass. This type also contains more fullerenes.

Regular Shungite
The commonly available black stone, with a carbon content of about 30% to 60%. The remaining 40% to 70% is packed with various minerals and components that I will introduce next.

2. Substances contained other than carbon?
When regular Shungite is scientifically analyzed, a long list of major elements that make up the Earth's crust appears.

① Silicate minerals (quartz, feldspar, etc.)
The most abundant mixture is silica (silicon dioxide).
In other words, it is the same component as quartz (crystal). Since this accounts for nearly 20% to 50% of the total, it has a much harder and more solid "rock" texture than just a lump of carbon (charcoal).

② Metallic elements and other minerals
Looking at the composition table of Shungite, you can see that it contains various metallic elements, almost like a supplement or a miniature of a mine.

③ Aluminum
Contained in large amounts as a clay-like component.

④ Iron oxides and sulfides
Sometimes golden streaks or spots can be seen on the surface of Shungite; these are pyrite (iron sulfide).

⑤ Potassium, calcium, and magnesium
These are also contained in oxide form at a few percent each, and they serve as the source of mineral components that dissolve in trace amounts when making Shungite water (mineral water).

⑥ Trace elements
Titanium, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, etc., have also been confirmed to be contained in very, very small amounts (at the 0.01% level).

The romance of fullerenes

First, "fullerene" is a special molecular structure in which carbon atoms are bonded in a spherical shape like a soccer ball.

It was a major discovery that was artificially synthesized in a laboratory in 1985, and the scientists who discovered it won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.
At the time, it was thought to be "something that does not exist in nature, only artificially."
However, in 1992, natural fullerenes were discovered for the first time in the world inside "Shungite," a 2-billion-year-old ancient rock that can only be mined in the Karelia region of the Russian Far North.
This caused a huge stir in the scientific community, with people saying, "Are you serious?!"

Powerful antioxidant effect:
Thanks to its unique shape, fullerene has an incredible antioxidant power that absorbs "active oxygen," which causes aging and disease, like a sponge and renders it harmless.

Compatibility with water:
It is said that when Shungite is put into water, the properties of these fullerenes dissolve in trace amounts to purify the water and provide beneficial effects to the skin, and it has a history of being used for medical purposes and water purification in Russia since long ago (as mentioned above).
※ However, scientific analysis suggests that the amount of fullerenes contained in Shungite is very small (0.001% or less, etc.), so rather than being "plentifully contained," it is at a level of being "miraculously contained."
But the fact that it possesses them naturally is unique on Earth.

Also, there is a "meteorite origin theory" regarding the fullerenes contained in Shungite.
Why is such a special stone found in large quantities only in a specific place in Russia?
......That is where the meteorite origin theory, which says it was "brought about by the collision of a meteorite (or comet)," comes in.
There are several interesting reasons why this is said...

① Were there no "source materials" 2 billion years ago?
Carbon lumps like coal and graphite on Earth are usually formed by the accumulation of the remains of ancient plants and living creatures.
But 2 billion years ago, when Shungite was formed, such giant plants and forests did not yet exist on Earth (there were only primitive bacteria). The question "Then where did this massive amount of carbon spring from?" gave birth to the theory that it fell from space.

② Fullerenes exist in space
In recent space observations, light signatures of fullerenes have been found in the gas surrounding stars as they reach the end of their lives and in the dust drifting in outer space.
In other words, it has been proven that "fullerenes are also molecules created in space."

③ The "Phaeton" legend
As a slightly sci-fi theory, some researchers advocate a romantic theory that the hypothetical unidentified planet "Phaeton," which was once thought to have existed between Mars and Jupiter, exploded, and its fragments (the core of a planet where carbon-based life was thought to have existed) crashed into Earth as a meteorite, which became Shungite (I like this kind of thing (laughs)).
This is exactly why Shungite is called an "alien stone."

Geological "current conclusion"

The current leading scientific theory is that it was created not by a meteorite, but in the "primordial, sludge-like environment of Earth" (a geobiological theory).
Two billion years ago, nutrient-rich volcanic components flowed into shallow seas and lakes, causing a massive, explosive bloom of microscopic organisms (such as algae). The current scientific view is that their remains piled up densely on the seafloor and were transformed by intense geothermal heat and extreme pressure into "shungite carbon," a precursor to graphite.

While the scientific reality is that it most likely originated on Earth, the greatest appeal of shungite is that it allows us to imagine, "Perhaps this is a miraculous mass that fell from space two billion years ago."