Erythrite

specimen number:
2262132

location:
Bou Azzer, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco

description:
attractive purple acicular crystals of erythrite across the top of matrix. In good condition.

The Bou Azzer mining district, located in the central Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is world-renowned as one of the few places on Earth where cobalt is extracted as a primary ore. Geologically, the deposit is unique, consisting of hydrothermal veins associated with Neoproterozoic ophiolites, where cobalt and nickel arsenides formed along the contacts of serpentinite and quartz-carbonate rocks. Erythrite, a cobalt arsenate often called cobalt bloom, is a striking secondary mineral found here, occurring as vibrant, magenta to crimson-red crystals in the oxidation zones of these deposits. Historically, mining and quarrying activities in the Bou Azzer region began in the late 1920s following the discovery of cobalt-rich outcrops, with industrial-scale production starting around 1930. The district has remained a major global supplier of cobalt for nearly a century, operating almost continuously except for a brief period of closure in the 1980s due to low metal prices before reopening in the early 1990s.

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