Voltaite from San Rafael Mine, Nevada

Just looking at this mineral list and surprised to see Voltaite with a question mark. It is listed in Minerals of Nevada according to the detailed info (which I guess I cannot augment or edit). I have seen a specimen in the collection of R. Thomssen and I don't have any doubts about Voltaite coming from there. Anatase could be added to the list for that location too, but that would probably frighten too many people.

You might want to look at Martin Jensen, Tony Nikischer, Tom Loomis & Jason Herrmann (2010) Update on the Mineralogy of the San Rafael Mine Nye County, Nevada

[www.tandfonline.com]

I like one of the figure captions: "Blonde–colored wulfenite crystals...".

David Von Bargen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You might want to look at Martin Jensen, Tony
> Nikischer, Tom Loomis & Jason Herrmann (2010)
> Update on the Mineralogy of the San Rafael Mine
> Nye County, Nevada
>
> [www.tandfonline.com]
> 29.2010.518014#tabModule

Been there, done that.

These aren't the only guys who have collected in this mine.

So has anybody actually done any tests on the material (chemical or X-ray) or is it all visual ID?

David Von Bargen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You might want to look at Martin Jensen, Tony
> Nikischer, Tom Loomis & Jason Herrmann (2010)
> Update on the Mineralogy of the San Rafael Mine
> Nye County, Nevada
>
> [www.tandfonline.com]
> 29.2010.518014#tabModule

I wanted to say that I thought this was an excellent article, the kind of thing I like to read, and the sort of thing I would
aspire to write. Enough photos to raise the pulse rate a bit -- they clearly put in a lot of effort and made a real
contribution. The only thing lacking was a map or two of the mine, I am sure that was due to space limitations.

But, I am dismayed when a specimen in hand identified by a reliable source gets questioned and an article is
cited, I presume as the absolute authority. I am reminded of a time when a company I worked for was sent some
papers with numbers, assays, and ore grades on them (handwritten or typed, I don't remember). The client asked us
if we could have the numbers printed on computer paper. This was in the day when computer paper was wide stuff
with green horizontal stripes and holes on the right and left to feed it through a high speed line printer.
The purpose of this subterfuge was they wanted to present the numbers at a board meeting and felt they would
have more "weight" if they looked like computer output. (I suppose I am dating myself by describing all of this).

Now, I am not suggesting any subterfuge on anyones part right now, just pointing out the magical authority that
comes upon anything that is printed or published.

I have a specimen of the material in hand right now, am admiring it under the microscope, and will see what I can
do about getting some tests run.

Well, I have to eat some crow. A Raman spectrum shows this black material to be Anglesite!
Interesting specimen in any event. I just took two photos and added them to the collection.
One is under Sulphur, the other under Anglesite.

[www.mindat.org]

[www.mindat.org]

So, this has worked out differently than I had expected and rather than removing the question mark from Voltaite from this location, it looks like another question mark should be added or better yet, that it be removed from the list altogether.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2012 12:22AM by Tom Trebisky.

Thanks for pursuing this further. If you have been at this long enough, everyone has run across some really weird specimens that trip you up.