Provenite

Old Yuma Mine

MineClosedDraft data

32.3147° N, 111.1217° W · ± 1 km

Vanadinite from Arizona, United States, with photos of specimens from this locality.

View on the map

Minerals found here

Vanadinite

Vanadinite at Old Yuma Mine

Fine orange-red barrels, and vanadinite pseudomorphs after wulfenite, in oxidized ore at a mine better known for wulfenite

Single sharp burnt-orange vanadinite crystal from the Old Yuma Mine, Tucson Mountains, Arizona.
Single sharp burnt-orange vanadinite crystal from the Old Yuma Mine, Tucson Mountains, Arizona.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Brick-red hexagonal barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals from the Old Yuma Mine, Arizona.
Brick-red hexagonal barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals from the Old Yuma Mine, Arizona.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Translucent orange barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals from the Old Yuma Mine, Arizona.
Translucent orange barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals from the Old Yuma Mine, Arizona.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Formula
Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl
Morphology
Hexagonal barrel-shaped crystals; also occurs as pseudomorphs after wulfenite
Typical size
Crystals mostly up to about 1 cm
Color / luster
Orange to brick-red, lustrous and translucent
Associated minerals
Wulfenitecalcitequartz
Availability
Scarce
History
Small mine worked sporadically from 1916 to 1947, with underground development and a heap-leach plant in 1984-1986

Sources: SRC-355 SRC-356 SRC-364

About Vanadinite →

Geology of the locality

Setting
Lens-shaped, partly oxidized base-metal sulfide orebody in a faulted fracture zone, linked to a Laramide porphyritic intrusion; supergene enrichment with argillic alteration; wulfenite and vanadinite occur in the oxidized ore
Host rock
Cretaceous andesite
Region
Arizona
Country
United States

Small Pb-Cu-Zn-Mo-Ag-Au mine with sporadic production between 1916 and 1947. Coordinates from the Mindat locality page (32 deg 18' 53" N, 111 deg 7' 18" W), matching the Western Mining History entry.

Sources: SRC-355 SRC-356

Sources

  1. SRC-355 · Database
    Old Yuma Mine, Tucson Mountain District, Amole Mining District, Pima County, Arizona (Mindat locality 3372)Mindat contributors · Mindat.org
  2. SRC-356 · Database
    Old Yuma MineWestern Mining History · Western Mining History
  3. SRC-364 · Website
    Vanadinite photo file pages on Wikimedia Commons (dealer descriptions)Robert M. Lavinsky (photographer, Wikimedia Commons) · Wikimedia Commons

Draft data from the Provenite workbook. Check entries against the cited sources before relying on them. Photos are open-licence images from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given with each photo.