Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto who discovered the mineral called upon Dr Chris Stanley from the Natural History Museum in London when they were unable to identify the substance.
Dr Stanley was amazed to find that his analysis showed that the mysterious mineral already existed but only in the fictional description used in a Superman story and he said:
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns."
Unfortunately, whilst the mineral may match the fictional chemical formula it cannot be officially called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton, which is a real element.
The new mineral will be known as Jadarite because Jadar is the location in Serbia where it was found.
