Provenite

Touissit (Touissit-Bou Beker district)

AreaUnknownDraft data

34.4670° N, 1.7670° W · ± 10 km

Dolomite and Vanadinite from Oriental, Morocco, with photos of specimens from this locality.

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Minerals found here

DolomiteVanadinite

Dolomite at Touissit (Touissit-Bou Beker district)

Pearly pink dolomite rhombs from the dolomite-hosted Mississippi Valley-type ores; also matrix for azurite

Plate covered with lustrous, pearly flesh-pink dolomite rhombs.
Plate covered with lustrous, pearly flesh-pink dolomite rhombs.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Lustrous azurite crystal of about 2 cm on dolomite.
Lustrous azurite crystal of about 2 cm on dolomite.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Formula
CaMg(CO₃)₂
Morphology
Rhombohedra covering plates
Typical size
Crystals to about 1.5 cm
Color / luster
Flesh-pink; pearly
Associated minerals
Azurite

Sources: SRC-508 SRC-498

About Dolomite →

Vanadinite at Touissit (Touissit-Bou Beker district)

Brown to gray pyromorphite-like barrels, unlike the red tabular crystals of Mibladen

Plate covered with tan-gray barrel-shaped, partly hoppered vanadinite crystals from Touissit, Morocco.
Plate covered with tan-gray barrel-shaped, partly hoppered vanadinite crystals from Touissit, Morocco.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Cluster of curved honey-brown vanadinite crystals from Touissit, Morocco.
Cluster of curved honey-brown vanadinite crystals from Touissit, Morocco.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals resembling pyromorphite from Touissit, Morocco.
Barrel-shaped vanadinite crystals resembling pyromorphite from Touissit, Morocco.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Formula
Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl
Morphology
Barrel-shaped, often hoppered crystals resembling pyromorphite
Typical size
Crystals from a few mm to about 2 cm
Color / luster
Tan-gray to honey-brown, with a strong luster
Availability
Scarce
History
Specimens reached the market in the late 1960s and 1970s, often sold as pyromorphite

Sources: SRC-360 SRC-361 SRC-364

About Vanadinite →

Geology of the locality

Setting
Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc district with supergene non-sulfide mineralization; the most important MVT district in northern Africa
Type
Hydrothermal
Region
Oriental
Country
Morocco

Coordinates are village level (Wikipedia), so the accuracy is +/- 10 km. Mindat places the district in Jerada Province, while the Commons labels name Oujda-Angad Province.

Sources: SRC-360 SRC-361

Sources

  1. SRC-360 · Website
    TouissitWikipedia contributors · Wikipedia
  2. SRC-361 · Database
    Touissit-Bou Beker mining district, Morocco (Mindat locality entry 8656)Mindat contributors · Mindat.org
  3. SRC-508 · Website
    File:Dolomite-266465.jpg (Wikimedia Commons)Robert M. Lavinsky · Wikimedia Commons
  4. SRC-498 · Article
    Zoned sulphur isotope signatures at the Mississippi Valley-type Touissit - Bou Beker - El Abed District (Morocco-Algeria)Bouabdellah, M.; Fontbote, L.; Haeberlin, Y.; Llinares, L.; Leach, D.; Spangenberg, J. · 1999 · In: Stanley, C.J. et al. (eds.) Mineral deposits: processes to processing, Balkema, p. 821-824
  5. 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.