Vanadinite with Barite

specimen number:
2072186

location:
Mibladen, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco

description:
Attractive combination specimen with red lustrous tabular crystals of vanadinite measuring to almost 1.0 cm in size across a white bladed barite crystal matrix. Minimal micro-chipping present, this still in good condition and very pretty.

Mibladen, located in the Midelt Province of the Draa-Tafilalet region in Morocco, is globally renowned for producing the world's finest vanadinite specimens. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Upper Moulouya Basin, where mineralization is hosted in Jurassic-aged sedimentary rocks, primarily Liassic limestones and dolomites. The ore bodies are stratiform and tectonic in nature, having formed through the circulation of hydrothermal fluids along fault zones that deposited lead and zinc. Mibladen is particularly famous for its spectacular secondary oxidation zone, where the lead-chloro-vanadate mineral vanadinite formed as brilliant, hexagonal, ruby-red to orange crystals on a contrasting matrix of white to tan barite or limestone. Historically, the French began industrial mining operations in the mid-1920s to extract lead, with the district becoming a major industrial center for several decades. While large-scale commercial mining for lead ore largely ceased in the 1970s and 1980s, the area has remained intensely active through artisanal mining focused almost exclusively on the recovery of high-quality mineral specimens for the international market.

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