Vanadinite with Calcite

specimen number:
2262380

location:
Old Yuma Mine, Pima Co., Arizona, USA

description:
Attractive lustrous red crystals of vanadinite to 0.4 cm in size on matrix with calcite. In good condition.

The Old Yuma Mine, located in the Tucson Mountains within the boundaries of present-day Saguaro National Park in Arizona, was established with its first claims dating back to 1872. Geologically, the deposit sits within a complex collapse caldera formed by extensive Mesozoic volcanic activity, where later hydrothermal solutions rose along fracture zones to deposit base-metal sulfides and associated gangue minerals. Historically, the underground operation worked intermittent periods between 1916 and 1947, yielding modest amounts of copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, and molybdenum. Mineralogically, the site achieved world-renowned fame not for its commercial ore production, but for yielding exceptional, museum-quality secondary mineral specimens, particularly striking orange-red wulfenite and vanadinite crystals.

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