Szenicsite with Powellite and Molybdenite

Help improve this record

No owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

A rare and spectacular specimen of the extremely rare mineral Szenicsite with Molybdenite and copper-bearing Powellite. Szenicsite is a copper molybdate with almost all known specimens being attributed to a one cubic metre block from the Jardinera No. 1 Mine at Inca de Oro in the Atacama Region of Chile. The accompanying 'Excalibur-Cureton Company' label gives the locality as Tierra Amarilla, Copiap' Province in the Atacama Region, Chile, but this is now known to be incorrect, due to erroneous information when first discovered. The reddish-bronze-brown, hard clay-like matrix is pervaded with a high percentage of metallic and silky deep green blades of Szenicsite up to 2.5 x 1.0 cm, with many forming books of parallel crystals. Areas rich in Powellite emit a dull creamy-yellow fluorescence in both long and short wave UV and the Molybdenite occurs as bluish-silver metallic patches. A top ranking specimen of Szenicsite.