Vivianite - image 1

Vivianite

T

Tim & Holly Smith
0 for sale
Vivianite, 9 cm, from the Huanuni mine, Dalence Province, Oruro, Bolivia. Photo by Holly Smith.

Product details

Species
VivianiteAbout Vivianite →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions9.0 cm
Added on02/13/2026
Locality
Bolivia, Oruro (Department), Huanuni mineRegional guide →
Publications
  • Mineralogical Record Mineral Collecting In Texas page 222

Learn more

Vivianite
Mineral guide
Learn about Vivianite
color-changing, pleochroic crystals from Bolivia, prized for prisms and velvety luster on matrix; rare, collectible, with light-sensitive care.
Vivianite
Regional guide
Vivianite from Huanuni Mine, Bolivia
from the Huanuni Mine is a connoisseur’s material: fragile, deeply colored, and inseparable from one of the great tin systems of the Bolivian Andes. The best pieces show flattened, spear- to sail-shaped crystals in saturated bottle-green, blue-green, or sea-green tones, often with a glassy luster and enough internal transparency to glow at the edges. On matrix, the contrast can be superb: vivianite blades rising from brown siderite, glittering pyrite, black cassiterite-rich rock, or arsenopyrite-pyrite masses from the same tin-polymetallic environment.