Vanadinite

Description

Vanadinite has a hardness of 2½ – 3 and a specific gravity of 6.88. First discovered in 1801 by Señor A.M. del Rio, a Professor at the School of Mines of Mexico, Zimapan, and “he called the mineral ‘brown lead’ and asserted that it contained a new element, which he first named pancromium and later, erythronium. However, he was later led to believe that this was not a new element but merely an impure form of chromium. In 1830, Nils Gabriel Sefström discovered a new element, which he named vanadium. It was later revealed that this was identical to the metal discovered earlier by Andrés Manuel del Río” according to Wikipedia.

Also from Wikipedia, “Vanadinite is an uncommon mineral, only occurring as the result of chemical alterations to a pre-existing material. It is therefore known as a secondary mineral. It is found in arid climates and forms by oxidation of primary lead minerals. Vanadinite is especially found in association with the lead sulfide, galena. Other associated minerals include wulfenite, limonite, and barite.”

Most specimens that look like this come from Morocco, and it’s not certain that this does, as well, but it’s quite likely. There’s not very much more known about this specific piece or its history, but you can find a bunch of Vanadinite from the Southwest US with around 750 recorded localities worldwide and more than 400 in the Southwest US alone, with some of the best Vanadinite in the US seemingly found in Arizona.

Vanadinite makes for a great representation of Vanadium as it’s found naturally for element collectors, despite only containing around 10% Vanadium within, as it’s still the main ore for the element and named after it!

If you find a rock like this on a hike in an arid environment you’ll now be able to hopefully at least identify some Vanadium, but unless you can find some stunning and large, red Vanadinite, it’s unlikely you’ll strike it rich discovering any deposit, you can get a purified kg from Luciteria for $600, but it’s still a really cool rock all the same and a pleasure to share with you!