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Identity HelpIdentify help

21st Jul 2014 01:36 UTCAlex Earl 🌟 Expert

I recently went on a special trip to the Mammoth and Gold chain mines that are part of the Tintic mining district near Eureka Utah. I had a wonderful time meeting the owner of the mines and learning from him the history of the area. Anyway I will probably be asking for help a lot in the near future to identify minerals I found there. These two specimens in particular are perched on a gossan matrix and have a hardness of 2 1/2- 3. You will probably find some good info from the locality page to help.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Locality page: http://www.mindat.org/loc-256473.html

21st Jul 2014 17:20 UTCAlex Earl 🌟 Expert

I am thinking it could possibly be Cuprian Adamite? Some of the other crystals are clear and some only have a slight green tinge.

21st Jul 2014 19:55 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Look like included calcite.

21st Jul 2014 21:04 UTCAlex Earl 🌟 Expert

I tried using vinegar on these two, and some other white/clear crystals that looked different from them. The green crystals had absolutely no reaction, while the other white/clear crystals I tried bubbled vigorously. So there is calcite on the whole piece but these 2 appear not to be. Any other suggestions as to what it might be? Or any tests I should try?

Thanks! Alex

1st Aug 2014 04:53 UTCAlex Earl 🌟 Expert

Anyone else have any ideas?

3rd Aug 2014 22:17 UTCJohn Dagenais Expert

Hi Alex,

Although the two above photos are not great I would like to help you properly identify the mineral species shown. You can help by clarifying exactly were this/these specimens are from. Mammoth Mine or Gold Chain Mine?

The upper green crystal in the second photo looks like cuprian adamite with striations parallel to the C Axis but the lower green crystal with it looks cubic which confuses the issue. Are these two side by side crystals the same species? The hardness you give is right for adamite but cubic green crystals with a hardness of 2.5 to 3.0 are close enough to make pharmacosiderite a possibility.

The first photo is not of much help in identifying it but the green botryoidal group at the top of the cluster is most likely conichalcite which is very common at both the Mammoth Mine and the Gold Chain Mine.

Best regards

John Dagenais

3rd Aug 2014 23:26 UTCAlex Earl 🌟 Expert

This piece comes from the gold chain mine, all of the photos are on the same specimen. The second photo is not that great and after looking at it longer they all appear the same shape and are all orthorhombic with the shape of cuprian adamite. As for the botryoidal material in the first photo I have no doubt it is conichalcite.

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