It was on this expedition that he discovered three new minerals, yttrialite, thorogummite, and nivenite.

The identification of the minerals yttrialite, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite: by William Niven (1889)

Described by the United States Geological Survey as one of the greatest deposits of rare-earth minerals in the world, the pegmatite was the first place geologists discovered fergusonite, monofergusonite, thorogummite, yttrialite, and nivenite.

William Niven (2 October 1850 - 2 June 1937) was a mineralogist and archeologist noted for his discovery of the minerals yttrialite, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite (named after him), as well as a set of controversial tablets.