Torbernita
Torbernita is a mineral with formula Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·12H₂O, in the Fosfatos group. This specimen comes from Calo, Vimianzo, A Coruña, Galicia, España.
Description
Thumbnail of apple-green metatorbernite crystals carpeting a criptocristaline quartz matrix (calcedony). Within the matrix, negative molds of former feldspar crystals are still visible, having dissolved long before the metatorbernite grew upon it.
History of this specimen
This is the piece I bought from Manuel Montes at the 2026 Cártama fair. I’d been after him for a while to snag a piece from his collection that I truly loved, and among all the different non-torbertnite specimens he had there, I spotted a flat little box with its contents hidden from view. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me, I asked him what it was, he opened the lid, and there it was. Not much more needed to be said. The ideal piece had arrived.
About Torbernita
First, there was the granite. Then, weathering removed part of its feldspars, leaving negative casts within the quartz, hollows bearing the shape of vanished crystals. Much later, fluids laden with uranium, phosphorus, and copper flowed through those cavities, depositing metatorbernite. In this way, the specimen retains two distinct episodes in the rock's history: what disappeared and what later occupied its place.
About the locality
In May 2003, while searching for new kaolin mining sites in the province of A Coruña, geologist Manuel Montes Martínez located a three-meter cavity covered in torbernite crystals out in the hills. The company he worked for needed around 70,000 metric tons of kaolin annually, and Montes was exploring the area in search of new resources when, drawing on his geological and mineralogical expertise, he stumbled upon this discovery. He has never publicly revealed its exact location. The crystals do not usually reach large sizes, but they display extraordinary quality and rank among the finest crystallized specimens in Europe. The material is scarce and highly sought-after.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0701
- Composition
- Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·12H₂O
- Name
- Torbernita
- Group
- Fosfatos
- Category
- Núcleus Ardens
- Matrix
- Calcedonia
- Mine
- Calo
- District / Municipality
- Vimianzo
- Province
- A Coruña
- Region
- Galicia
- Country
- España
- Size (cm)
- 2.5 x 2.5 x 1.3
- Weight
- 3.9 g
- Ex-collection
- Manuel Montes
- Etymology
- Honoring the Swedish chemist Torbern Olof Bergman, for his contributions to analytical chemistry.
- Quality
- Notable
- Value trend
- Al alza
Related specimens
- Aragonito (Blanco (Bulboso)) — España
- Barita — España
- Calcita (Dorada) — España
- Jacinto de Compostela — España
- Magnetita — España
- Magnetita — España
- Malaquita (Microbotrioidal) — España
- Piromorfita — China