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  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.
  • A striking mineral specimen featuring vibrant red vanadinite crystals perched atop distinctive bladed barite formations on a substantial matrix. The impressive piece showcases an elegant interplay of textures and colors, with dark mineral coatings on the barite blades creating dramatic contrast against the bright vanadinite crystals.

VANADINITE ON BARITE

ACF Mine, Mibladen Mining District, Midelt Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco
14.5 x 12 x 7 cm
$800.00
$800.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Bright red vanadinite on top of bladed barite, all on a large host rock. Many of the barite blades are coated with growths of a black mineral, which I'd assume to be goethite though I can't say for sure. Keep in mind that the standing position we put the piece in for photography isn't super stable; the bottom could be trimmed relatively easily given the softness of the barite.

 

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MORE INFO

Mibladen is a stratiform Pb-Ba deposit hosted in Lower Jurassic (Liassic) limestones and dolomites of the High Atlas approximately 25 km northeast of Midelt, mined commercially for lead by French operators from the mid-1930s until closure in 1983. Vanadinite formed secondarily as the arid climate of the Atlas facilitated oxidation of galena without the interference of significant rainfall; vanadium sourced from the surrounding sedimentary sequence combined with lead in the oxidation zone to precipitate the hexagonal lead chlorovanadate. Crystals are typically thick tabular to prismatic hexagonal prisms, predominantly deep red to orange-red, with color zoning occasionally visible as a saturated orange core transitioning to deeper red toward the prism terminations; a rare subset displays skeletal growth on prism faces producing a translucent cat's-eye effect when viewed down the c-axis. Most specimens are floaters or occur on tan baryte and limonite matrix. Since the industrial closure, the deposit has been worked periodically by small-scale Moroccan miners sinking shallow shafts from surface - a 2019 discovery sparked a significant mining rush producing new material after years of the market depending entirely on old stock. Praszkier's 2013 Mineralogical Record account remains the definitive published treatment of the locality.