Vanadinite
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Vanadinite from Bou Almaden, Mibladen, Midelt Province, Draa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco, measuring 81 × 55 × 13 mm and weighing 47 grams. A flattish plate from what is, without much argument, the world's premier Vanadinite locality.
Vanadinite is lead chlorovanadate, Pb5(VO4)3Cl, hexagonal, and Mibladen material is prized above all other localities for the depth and brightness of its red to orange colour, typically as hexagonal crystals and crystal aggregates on a matrix of baryte or iron-stained rock. It forms in the oxidised zone of lead deposits, where weathering releases lead from Galena while vanadium is supplied from the surrounding sediments, the two combining as mineralising groundwater moved through the deposit's Triassic-Jurassic red beds.
Moroccan Vanadinite from Mibladen effectively defines the species for most collectors, and even a comparatively thin plate like this one carries the colour saturation the locality is known for. This piece is from the David Vince Collection.