Vanadinite
From a collectors' point of view, Vanadinite is a bit of a primadonna. It occurs
sporadically, but then in unbelievable abundance, and then it is gone again. In the early
1980s you couldn't spit without hitting at least two magnificent Moroccan specimens,
since then practically none have been available, and at the time of writing (Autumn
2001-Spring 2002) there are literally hundreds of fantastic specimens available. Trust
me, ten years from now you will regret not having stock piled these goodies!
Most Vanadinite in collections does come from Morocco, but very collectible
specimens have come from a number of deposits in Arizona, and less known but not less
interesting from northeastern Namibia (for example Abenab). Note that Vanadinite does
occur in Tsumeb, but crystals are not more than 2 mm and extremely rare. Most
Vanadinite specimens purported to be from Tsumeb were found in Abenab.
My records indicate that Vanadinite from a range of deposits occurs on specimens
that also carry one or more of the following minerals: Aragonite, Barite, Calcite,
Cechite, Chervetite, Descloizite, Fluorite, Hedyphane, Hetaerolite, Vanadinite, and
Wulfenite
Specimen Handling
Vanadinite is for all practical purposes stable in a normal household environment. It is
not known to be harmed by light, changes in temperature in the normal comfort range,
or to decompose. Vanadinite specimens can be brittle and should be handled with care
like any other mineral specimen. Vanadinite is slightly soluble in water, but a gentle
rinse will normally not harm a specimen.
Bibliography
Anthony, John Williams, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh & Monte C.
Nichols. 2000. Handbook of mineralogy, vol. 4
Anthony, John Williams, Sidney A. Williams, Richard A. Bideaux &
Raymond W. Grant. 1995. Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd ed.
Bancroft, Peter. 1984. Gem & Crystal Treasures.
Gaines, Richard W., H. Catherine W. Skinner, Eugene E. Foord, Brian Mason,
Abraham Rosenzweig & Vandall T. King. 1997. Dana's new mineralogy:
the system of mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, 8th
ed.
Hintze, Carl (ed.) 1916-1929. Handbuch der Mineralogie, vol. 1, section 3, part
1.
Noe-Nygaard, Arne. 1966. Mineralogi, 3rd ed.
Novak, G. & W.W. Besse. 1986. Vanadinite from the J. C. Holmes claim,
Santa Cruz County, Arizona, Mineralogical Record 17, 115
Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel. 1951. The system of
mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University
1837-1892, 7th ed. Vol. 2.
Ramdohr, Paul & Hugo Strunz. 1980. Klockmann's Lehrbuch der
Mineralogie, 16th ed.
Roberts, Willard Lincoln, Thomas J. Campbell & George Robert Rapp jr.
1990. Encyclopedia of Minerals 2nd ed.
Sinkankas, John. 1964. Mineralogy.
This page is written and maintaned by Claus Hedegaard
