Yushkinite found in quartz-calcite hydrothermal veins in the Pai-Khoi Anticlunorium (the middle reaches of the Silova-Yakha River) is associated with fluorite, sphalerite, and sulvanite and occurs as fine-lamellar aggregates. The mineral is pinkish purple, with perfect cleavage parallel to (0001). The Moh hardness is lower than 1. In reflected light, yushkinite is anisotropic, with strong bireflectance. It is uniaxial and optically negative. Yushkinite was discovered and approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, International Mineralogical Association, in 1983. Twenty years later, reexamination of yushkinite and associated minerals gave rise to the discovery of a new carbonate phase and specification of the physical properties and chemical composition of yushkinite.