VANDADINITE SPECIMEN

This is a natural specimen from Morocco.

Weight 440 cts app

Size 60x 53 x28 mm app

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 usually bright-red or orange-red in colour, although sometimes brown, red-brown, grey, yellow or colourless. Its distinctive colour makes it popular among mineral collectors. Its streak can be either pale yellow or brownish-yellow. Vanadinite may be transparent, translucent or opaque, and its lustrecan range from resinous to adamantine. Vanadinite is anisotropic, meaning that some of its properties differ when measured along different axes. When measured perpendicular and parallel to its axis of anisotropy,Vanadinite is very brittle, producing small, conchoidal fragments when fractured. Its hardness is 3–4 on the Mohs scale, about the same as a copper coin. Vanadinite is particularly heavy for a translucent mineral. It has a molecular weight of 1,416.27 grams/mole and its specific gravitycan range between 6.6 and 7.2, approximately seven times that of water. This variation in density is caused by impurities