PUCHERITE

    Class : Phosphates, arsenates, vanadates
    Subclass : Anhydrous vanadates
    Crystal system : Orthorhombic
    Chemistry : BiVO4
    Rarity : Rare to very rare

Pucherite is a rare vanadate resulting from the alteration of bismuth minerals in the oxidation zone of hydrothermal vanadium deposits and granitic pegmatites. Its name comes from its place of discovery : the Pucher shaft of the Wolfgang mine (Saxony, Germany). It is a yellowish-brown to dark red-brown mineral that can form neat, equant to tabular, sometimes acicular crystals, but more often occurs as encrustations of tiny crystals. It is the polymorph of two other even rarer minerals : clinobisvanite and dreyerite.

Main photo : Pucherite from Pucher Shaft, Wolfgangmassen mines, Saxony, Germany © Elmar Lackner

Pucherite from Hohenstein, Hesse, Germany © Uwe Haubenreisser
Pucherite from Pucher Shaft, Wolfgangmassen mines, Saxony, Germany © Volker Betz
Pucherite from Pucher Shaft, Wolfgangmassen mines, Saxony, Germany © Stephan Wolfsried
Pucherite pseudomorph after tourmaline from Little Three Mine, California © Russ Rizzo

Pucherite in the World

Pucherite is present in certain polymetallic veins in Germany, notably at Schneeberg (Saxony) where the Wolfgang mine produced brown prismatic crystals measuring 4 mm which constitute the largest known. Pucherite, however, seems relatively more common in granitic bismuth pegmatites: it is indeed known in this context in California (district of Pala and Romana), in Brazil (Minas Gerais), and in Madagascar (Ampangabé, Mont Ibity).

Pucherite in France

Pucherite is not present in the French underground. Pucherite pseudomorph after tourmaline crystals are known in Little Three Mine (California).

Twinning

No twins known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4
Density : 6.69
Fracture : Sub-conchoidal
Streak : Yellow

TP : Opaque to transparent
RI : 2.410 to 2.510
Birefringence : 0.100
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Hydrochloric acid

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

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