Home > Lead Minerals – December 10 > MS1451 Phoenicochroite

Phoenicochroite - Sold


Glocker (1837) assigned the currently accepted name of phoenicochroite to this species. The name phoenicochroite combines the Greek roots phoenikos, deep red, and chroa fire. The type locality is Beresovsk, Russia. Russian specimens are prized rarities, essentially seen only in museum collections dating to the nineteenth century. Micro-crystalline examples from Arizona and Chile satisfy the needs of researchers and mineral collectors. Williams et al. (1970) redefined phoenicochroite based upon another occurrence in Arizona, showing an isostructural relationship with lanarkite.

This is an especially rich example of Arizona phoenicochroite. In a series of small copper-lead-silver showings in Yavapai County, Arizona, a suite of chromium bearing minerals occurs including Cr-rich mimetite, fornacite, hemihedrite, rare phoenicochroite, and yet rarer crocoite. On a fracture surface of volcanic rock, phoenicochroite here forms bright red patches to 1.4 cm wide. The fracture must have been very tight as phoenicochroite shows striations and crystal forms, but in places shows contacting. A bit of yellow mimetite and green copper staining provide color in the matrix. Other pieces of this material were filled with epoxy and cut en cabochon by a Phoenix based gem dealer. He saved this specimen for mineral collectors.