• A top-down view of a mineral specimen held in a hand with greenery out of focus in the background. The mineral is near-black and matte, composed of interlocking spheres with craggy darker black sections. The specimen is covered with small hexagonal tablet crystals of vanadinite that are shiny with vibrant orange color.
  • Detail view of hexagonal vanadinite crystals on the edge of the specimen, covering craggy black spires with botryoidal growth behind. The crystals have complex details, with intergrown stepped crystals and geometric edges.
  • Side-view of the specimen, with matte botryoidal growth on top, and darker black spires on the sides to the left and right of a slope of shiny growth with more mammillary habit. The vanadinite on top also grows down the sides, with the slope also sprinkled with tiny crystals.
  • View of the opposite side of the mineral, covered with more velvety black rounded spires. Sections are covered with bulbous forms of the more shiny mineral. Vanadinite covers patches of the side.
  • Detail of the shiny slope of more mammillary growth, which is lighter colored and more brown-toned than the black botryoidal mineral. Several large vanadinite crystals cover it and it is dotted with quite a few very small ones. There are well-formed botryoidal spires behind it.
  • Detail of the well-formed darker black spires which have botryoidal surfaces and are a bit shiny. At the top the turn craggy and blend into the larger matte botryoidal growth on top. The vanadinite crystals covering the spires are a bit smaller than those on top, but are a deeper red color.
  • Detail of one end of the specimen, with chunky hexagonal vanadinite crystals mixed into craggy black spires, and covering black botryoidal growth. The crystals are a bit more red-orange than most on top.
  • Angled view of the specimen showing the bulbous shiny growth on one side is forming like a crust over more matte black mineral in a patch in the lower left, and has shiny radial needle-like composition reflecting in a patch above.
  • Detail of the well-formed spires with focus more above, where the spires meld into larger spheres of botryoidal growth.
  • The underside of the specimen, broken matrix with irregular open pockets in it that are lined with shiny needles of radial growth. Some pockets have a very small beige mineral lining the interior, and there are a couple vanadinite crystals.
  • Scale image of the mineral specimen on a measuring mat, measuring a bit over three inches long and almost two inches wide.
1 11

Vanadinite on black botryoidal manganese oxides

Vanadinite on black botryoidal manganese oxides

$50.00 USD
$50.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Locality: Taouz, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco

Approx size: 3 x 1.75 x 1.75"

Approx weight: 204g

STAINING WARNING: the black matrix is a bit soft, specimens may stain surfaces or leave residue when handled.


Taouz is a region of Morocco that produces vanadinite crystals that are typically more orange in color compared to the vibrant red specimens of the famed Mibladen region to the north. This specimen has saturated orange to orange-red hexagonal tablet crystals liberally covering a dusty black botryoidal matrix. Shiny darker black spires with botryoidal surfaces  surround the edges, making this a dramatic Halloween mineral specimen.

I was told that the black matrix is goethite, a relatively common iron oxide mineral, but I suspect it is actually a mixture of several similar-appearing minerals in the iron and manganese oxide families (including goethite, coronadite, and pyrolusite). This one is especially complex and appears to involve three different minerals, but it would take more advanced analysis to confirm the true content.

'Oxide' means that the metallic element of the mineral's chemical compound has oxidized like rust as the mineral eroded over geologic time. This transforms the rock into a new material that is commonly a warm tone of red, orange, yellow, brown, or black.

The near-black botryoidal mass is an aggregate of spheres with radial structure inside. Broken edges expose some layers to be composed of silvery needles radiating out. Some surface layers are quite soft; handling the mineral will leave black smudges on your skin and surfaces.

View full details