Soft pastel green sheaves of Tarbuttite - Skorpion Mine, Rosh Pinah, Karas Region, Namibia

Size : 80mm across. 1st pic in Longwave UV - 2nd in white light



Tarbuttite is a rare phosphate mineral with formula Zn2(PO4)(OH). It was discovered in 1907 in what is now Zambia and named for Percy Tarbutt.Tarbuttite is white, yellow, red, green, brown, or colorless; in transmitted light it is colorless. Traces of copper cause green coloring, while iron hydroxides cause the other colors. Colorless crystals tend to be transparent while colored specimens have varying degrees of transparency.

Photos courtesy Marco Frigerio - Classic Rocks and Gems