Home > American Minerals V – October 1 > MS1654 Phosphovanadylite-Ca (IMA2011-101)
Phosphovanadylite-Ca (IMA2011-101) - Sold
- South Rasmussen Ridge phosphate mine
- Soda Springs
- Caribou County
- Idaho
- U.S.A.
- 3.1 by 2.6 by 1.9 cm – Thumbnail specimen (fits into a 2.5 cm cube)
Phosphovanadylite-Ca is a hydrated calcium vanadate phosphate. The mineral name phosphovanadylite (without hyphen) comes from its composition (Medrano et al., 1998). Kampf et al. (2013) named this species phosphovanadylite-Ca (IMA2011-101) due to its isostructural relationship with earlier described phosphovanadylite. Six months after acceptance of phosphovanadylite-Ca (Williams et al., 2012), the International Mineralogical Association harmonized nomenclature by retroactively renaming the original phosphovanadylite as phosphovanadylite-Ba (Williams et al., 2012).
Phosphovanadylite-Ca forms lustrous black microcrystals, associated with scaly greenish sincosite. Phosphovanadylite-Ca oxidizes in air, initially neon-blue, eventually becoming black as in this example. The matrix is a vanadium rich black shale. This locality has been reclaimed; no further specimens are forthcoming. A handwritten label accompanying the pieces reads "collected by Tom Loomis," who is an author of the original description. Part of the Charles Trantham (1936-2020) estate.