Wulfenite and mimetiteLead ores produce some beautiful minerals, especially in the oxidised zones of
Wulfenite and mimetiteLead ores produce some beautiful minerals, especially in the oxidised zones of primary deposits, where percolating groundwater and hydrothermal circulation have altered the primary dull sulphide minerals. Here are two of them together, the first a molybdate (see http://tinyurl.com/k95bcub andhttp://tinyurl.com/pn8w5cj), the second a chlorinated arsenate created from the oxidation of galena.Mimetite, part of the apatite group of minerals gets its name from its resemblance to pyromorphite (lead phosphate) and vanadinite (lead vanadide) and is usually yellow, more rarely green as in this beautiful specimen from the Ojuela mine in Mexico. It usually occurs as dusting on rock surfaces, or in botryoidal masses. The specimen measures 4.5 x 2.8 x 2.1 cm, the yellow crystals are wulfenite and the green ones mimetite.LozImage credit: Spirifer Mineralshttp://www.mindat.org/min-2714.htmlhttp://www.minerals.net/mineral/mimetite.aspxhttp://www.galleries.com/Mimetite -- source link
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