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Photo: Joy Desor Mineralanalytik |
Intense blue utahite groups on baryte with minor dagenaisite and red xocolatlite. Associated with xocolatlite is svanbergite.
Locality: North Star Mine, Mammoth, Tintic District, Juab County, Utah, United States of America
Utahite is an extremely rare secondary copper zinc tellurate mineral found as a product of oxidation. Its chemical formula is Cu₅Zn₃(Te⁶⁺O₄)₄(OH)₈•7H₂O. It was first described in 1997 for an occurrence in the Centennial Eureka mine, one mile southeast of Eureka, Tintic District, Juab County, Utah, US.
Xocolatlite is a sulfate mineral named for its chocolatey appearance. Discovered in the La Bambolla gold mine of Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico, Xocolatlite's name is derived from the Nahuatl word xocolatl, a drink made from cocoa, water, and chili. chemical formula is: Ca2Mn4+2(Te6+O6)2·H2O