Panasqueiraite (ridiculously rare)

Item Description

Panasqueiraite is a ridiculously rare calcium magnesium hydroxy fluoro phosphate, that to the best of my knowledge, has only been found at its namesake locality, the Panasqueira Mines in Portugal. The species has been approved since 1978, but still never seen in another world locality. Panasqueiraite has a distinctive muted pinkish-orange hue, so it's easy to recognize if you see it on a specimen from Panasqueira. This piece is a polished slice featuring a rich patch of Panasqueiraite associated with massive white Quartz, black Ferberite and metallic silvery Arsenopyrite. What's interesting is that there are two distinctly different colored areas of Panasqueiraite on the piece, and the entry on the mindat.org states that some piece identified as Panasqueiraite are actually Triplite, so it's possible that both species might be present on this specimen. Don't miss out on this great rarity from one of the most classic localities in Europe.
From the collection Dr. Robert ("Rob") Bowell, a geochemist and adjunct professor in Geochemistry and Mineralogy at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Rob has a background in applied geology in tropical and deeply weathered terrains, he also has done mining consulting in the fields of due diligence, financial and technical audits, process chemistry, environmental geochemistry, environmental engineering and mineralogy.