Santabarbaraite

Santabarbaraite pseudomorphous after vivianite

Origin: Santa Barbara lignite district, San Giovanni Valdarno, Valdarno (Val d'Arno), Arezzo Province, Tuscany, Italy

Picture size: 1.5 mm (top), 1.2 mm (bottom)

Owner: Thomas Witzke

Photo courtesy of:

Thomas Witzke

Institut für Mineralogie und Lagerstättenlehre
Aachen, Germany

Origin: Santa Barbara, Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni, Adrezzo, Italy (type locality)

Sample size: 2 x 2 x 1 cm

Origin: Kertch, Ukraine

Sample size: 4.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm

Photo courtesy of:

Tom Loomis

Dakota Matrix Minerals

Aggregates of brown bladed crystals up to 1 cm on matrix

Origin: Kerchenskoye Deposit, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine

Sample size: 2 x 3 cm

Origin: Santabarbara mine, Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni, Arezzo, Italy

Sample size: 1 x 1.5 cm

Photo courtesy of:

Diederik Visser

Diederik Visser Minerals & Petrological Services

Sharp red crystals to 1.4 cm (though most are smaller), in a rich specimen with a botyoidal black mineral not yet identified. Santabarbaraite doesn't form crystals of its own. Instead, it forms pseudomorphs after another mineral, typically vivianite. Given the location (known for phosphates like vivianite) and appearance of the specimens, these appear to be pseudomorphs after vivianite.

Origin: Kerchenskoye Deposit, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine

Sample size: 3.0 x 2.0 x 1.6 cm (top), 2.5 x 2.0 x 1.5 cm (bottom)

Photo courtesy of:

Rob Lavinsky

The Arkenstone