Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Mine du Rossignol, Chaillac, Indre, France
SIZE : 5.2 x 4.8 x 3.5 cm

This sample has green transparent pyromorphite crystals which have a keg shape like and are aggregated in as a bouquet. The sample comes from the French mine of le Rossignol in Indre area. The dimensions are: 5,2 x 4,8 x 3,5 cm.

The Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle could obtain this specimen thanks to support from Total. It is today kept in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Pyromorphite

HISTORY : Name inspired from the Greek word [pyros] meaning "fire" and "αργuρoσ" [morphos] meaning "shape", in reference to the globule shape formed during the melting and which cooldowns with a crystalline form

Species described in 1813 by Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann (1782-1859), German mineralogist

Type-locality : undefined because species already known from the Ancients
ANCIENT NAME : Mine de plomb verte ou jaunastre, plomb phosphaté

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Pb5 (PO4)3 Cl
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Hexagonal
COLOR : Green dark, green yellow, yellow-brown
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Resineous to adamantine
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Short prismatic crystals
HARDNESS : 3,5-4,0
DENSITY : 7,14

CHEMICAL CLASS : VII - Phosphates, arsenat
GROUP : Chlorapatite - pyromorphite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 7/B.39-150
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 8.BN.10

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Pyromorphite

Pyromorphite

MNHN N°206.256

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