phosphates
Vanadinite
Pb5(VO4)3Cl
- Crystal system
- hexagonal
- Hardness
- 3–4 on the Mohs scale
- Lustre
- resinous
- Colour
- Bright orange-red to brown
- Where it forms
- In the oxidised zone of lead deposits in arid regions, where vanadium from the surrounding rock met lead from below.
- Chiefly from
- Mibladen and Touissit, MoroccoArizona, United StatesNamibia
Why it is that colour
The vanadate compound, with lead. The colour is remarkable and is the reason it is collected.
Safety
A lead vanadate. Both components are toxic — lead cumulatively, vanadium compounds acutely by inhalation. It is soft and friable. Handle minimally, keep away from children, wash hands, never powder, never put in water. It is widely sold as an attractive orange specimen with no warning attached.
Where it comes from
Moroccan material from Mibladen supplies most of the specimen market and is inexpensive. A minor ore of vanadium.
Historical use
Vanadium is used to strengthen steel, and vanadium redox flow batteries are a serious candidate for grid-scale energy storage.
Recorded as history and attributed where possible. That a stone was used for something establishes that people used it, not that it worked.
Worth knowing
Vanadinite is one of the most commonly sold "pretty" specimens that carries a genuine lead hazard, and its ubiquity in mineral shops and online is a good reason for a collection like this to record toxicity as a field rather than a footnote.
It is beautiful. Bright hexagonal orange crystals on brown matrix, cheap, and available everywhere. It is also lead, in a soft mineral that leaves residue on your fingers.
Identity checked against IMA-CNMNC master list, June 2025.