Cuprosklodowskite

specimen number:
2063499

location:
Musonoi Mine, Kolwezi, Mutshatsha, Lualaba, DR Congo

description:
Attractive light yellowish green acicular crystals of cuprosklodowskite measuring to 0.3 cm in size across the front of matrix. In good condition. Specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark who acquired the piece in 1990.

Located within the world-class Kolwezi mining district of the Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Musonoi Mine is a massive open-cut operation exploiting rich stratabound copper and cobalt deposits hosted within the folded Precambrian rocks of the Katanga Supergroup. Opened extensively for industrial extraction in the mid-twentieth century, the mine gained global renown among mineralogists and collectors for its exceptionally diverse and complex secondary mineral assemblage, driven by intense oxidation and weathering of primary ores in the presence of uranium and rare elements. Among the extraordinary secondary species found in its cavities is cuprosklodowskite, a striking radioactive silicate featuring vibrant emerald-green to yellow-green acicular crystals that often form radiating sprays and crusts inside weathered geodes.

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