Metatorbernita
Metatorbernita is a mineral with formula Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·8H₂O, in the Fosfatos group. This specimen comes from Calo, Vimianzo, A Coruña, Galicia, España and joined the Terrium collection in 2003.
Description
Excellent crystallization of grass-green metatorbernite on a quartz matrix. They show bipyramidal forms truncated by pinacoidal faces. Or, in other words, tetragonal or hexagonal crystals shaped like a double pyramid, one on top of the other, whose tips are replaced by flat faces. I call them little barrels, and they are wonderful under the loupe.
History of this specimen
My first torbernite and the first specimen I bought from Fran from Seville. It comes from a small geode found in May 2003 in an already exhausted kaolinite working. On May 16, 2003, while studying new kaolinized zones within the granitic area of Calo (Vimianzo, Galicia), Doctor of Geology Manuel Montes Martínez discovered in this open-pit mine a cavity of about three meters filled with torbernite crystals of absolutely extraordinary quality. I met him purely by chance at the Tomares swap table in 2025. And he is another whose descendants are not interested in minerals or the collection. He explained to us that when he came across the geode his legs were trembling, that he fell to the ground with his mouth open, and that although he did not manage to find the 60,000 new tons of kaolin he was supposed to find for the company that had hired him, he found something much more important. The Geiger counter was lent to him by the people from Carburos Metálicos because they did not have one, he measured a box he had filled with samples, and there he confirmed that it really was, as he believed, metatorbernite.
About the locality
A singular uranium phosphate deposit in a kaolinization setting within granite. The 2003 find produced an exceptional torbernite/metatorbernite paragenesis in well-defined cavities, with small but extraordinarily high-quality crystals. It was a very brief, exhausted occurrence; the material never appeared again, and the well-crystallized specimens rank among the best worldwide.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0146
- Composition
- Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·8H₂O
- Name
- Metatorbernita
- Group
- Fosfatos
- Category
- Núcleus Ardens
- Matrix
- Cuarzo
- Mine
- Calo
- District / Municipality
- Vimianzo
- Province
- A Coruña
- Region
- Galicia
- Country
- España
- Size (cm)
- 7.5 x 5.2 x 2.8
- Weight
- 123 g
- Acquired
- 2003
- Etymology
- From the Swedish chemist Torbern Olof Bergman, in recognition of his contributions to analytical chemistry.
- Quality
- Muy buena
- Value trend
- Al alza
Related specimens
- Abellaíta — España
- Abernathyita — España
- Abernathyita — España
- Abernathyita — España
- Aerenita — España
- Aerinita (fibrosa) — España
- Analcima — España
- Analcima — España