Phosphovanadylite-Ca with Sincosite

specimen number:
2354148

location:
South Rasmussen Ridge Mine, Caribou Co., Idaho, USA

description:
Green micro crystalline and massive Phosphovanadylite-Ca and sincosite across the top of matrix. Previously from the collection of Charles Trantham, this was collected by Tom Loomis.

Located near Soda Springs in Caribou County, Idaho, the South Rasmussen Ridge Mine is an open-pit operation that targets the marine sedimentary strata of the Permian Phosphoria Formation to extract industrial phosphate. Commercial mining in the area expanded in the late twentieth century under industrial chemical operators, uncovering dark phosphatic shales enriched in vanadium, uranium, and chromium. Supergene weathering within these organic- and metal-rich sedimentary layers created specialized micro-environments that allowed rare hydrated calcium vanadium phosphate minerals to crystallize inside fractures and matrix cavities. Notable among these secondary occurrences is sincosite, which appears as distinct green rectangular tabular plates, and phosphovanadylite-Ca, a rare calcium-dominant species discovered at this site, forming brilliant blue to green spherical aggregates. Access for field collecting remains strictly restricted due to active industrial extraction and safety regulations, but specimens obtained during active mining runs have made the locality famous among mineral collectors for fine micro-crystallized vanadium minerals.

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