Copiapite

specimen number:
2133275

location:
Dexter #7 Mine, Emery Co., Utah, USA

description:
Yellow micro crystalline copiapite covering most all sides of matrix. Nice example for the species.

The Dexter No. 7 Mine, located on the western flank of the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, Utah, is a notable locality for secondary uranium and sulfate minerals. Geologically, the mine exploited uranium-vanadium mineralization hosted within the Moss Back Member of the Triassic Chinle Formation, where ore was deposited in ancient fluvial channel sandstones. The site is mineralogically significant for its abundance of copiapite, a hydrated iron sulfate mineral that forms as a bright yellow to orange-yellow efflorescent crust or granular mass through the oxidation of pyrite in the arid environment. Historically, the mine was most active during the uranium boom of the 1950s, with significant production recorded between 1954 and 1957. While industrial operations were relatively short-lived, the mine remains a well-known site for mineral collectors and researchers interested in the complex geochemistry of post-mining oxidation products in the Colorado Plateau.

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