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PhotosCuprosklodowskite - Musonoi Mine, Kolwezi, Kolwezi District, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo

7th Apr 2015 16:15 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

This Cuprosklodowskite sample is very early, purchased in 1974, and has a matrix unlike any I have seen in the Mindat photographs. The matrix is a white clay with green grains of uranium secondaries embedded in it and 1 mm wide cross fiber veinlets of an oil-green phase altering to a dull brown colour. does any one have experience with these early Cuprosklodowskite samples and know what the cross fiber veinlet phase might be?

7th Apr 2015 16:40 UTCPaul De Bondt Manager

Hi Gunther,

This is indeed a very old cupro. They where quite abundant when they opened the Musonoi extension.

The good cupro's where found in this strata too but were much rarer.

What the veinlets are, is kasolite. The contact with the matrix ( the brown stuff ) is a mixture of various selenites. Nothing percise.

But I would be cautious on the trogtalite and oosterboschite. They occur at Musonoi but not in that quantity or quality that they can be identified on sight. The black mineral is most likely selenium-rich digenite who makes 99.9% of the bulk sulphides at Musonoi.

I hope this helps.

Take care and best regards.

Paul.

7th Apr 2015 17:04 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

Hi Paul:

I was careful with the Oosterboschite as the aggregates are definitely hemispheres rather than the irregular alteration remnants of Se-Digenite. The Trogtalite was taken from photographs of a similar paragenesis and is a sight ID only. Thanks for the information on the Kasolite.

8th Apr 2015 07:57 UTCRock Currier Expert

Them was good ore!

8th Apr 2015 15:19 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

Yes Rock but the miners could not process it, even though it was rich. They buried almost all of it in the dump. This is a sample from the production phase rather than the dumped material so the matrix is different and the U-Se phases have developed a brown rind.

10th Apr 2015 12:27 UTCRock Currier Expert

Richard,

Why could the miners not process it? When was this? Pryor to the age of the atom bomb? Were they only looking for malachite?

10th Apr 2015 15:46 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

Hi Rock:

The ore was too radioactive to process. The paper in the Mineralogical Magazine that characterizes Verbeekite (Roberts et al, 2002) has the story of these rocks and the problems the mine had with them. They knew what they had; this was the early 1960's. It was a mineralogical treasure chest and a metallurgical nightmare.

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