In 1937, German mineralogists M. V. Stackelberg and K. Chudoba discovered naturally occurring cubic zirconia in the form of microscopic grains included in metamict zircon. This was thought to be a byproduct of the metamictization process, but the two scientists did not think the mineral important enough to give it a formal name. The discovery was confirmed through X-ray diffraction, proving the existence of a natural counterpart to the synthetic product.
in 1937 german mineralogists m v stackelberg and k chudoba discovered naturally occurring cubic zirconia in the form of microscopic grains included in metamict zircon this was thought to be a byproduct of the metamictization process but the two scientists did not think the mineral important enough to give it a formal name the discovery was confirmed through x-ray diffraction proving the existence of a natural counterpart to the synthetic product