Information about Wroewolfeite

Wroewolfeite is typically found as small prismatic to tabular monoclinic crystals up to a millimetre in size, often forming encrustations.

Its colour is a striking intense blue-green, occasionally more bluish or deep green-blue depending on light and thickness.

Crystals are transparent to translucent with a vitreous lustre. It exhibits strong pleochroism, so its colour changes depending on orientation under polarized light.

Uses and History

Wroewolfeite has no commercial or industrial uses due to its rarity and delicate nature. Its value lies primarily in mineralogical research and specimen collecting.

It was first described and approved as a mineral in 1973, with the name honouring Caleb Wroe Wolfe (1908-1980), an American crystallographer and geologist.

The type locality is Loudville Lead Mine, Massachusetts, USA. Since then, it has been identified in a few additional localities worldwide, often in the oxidation zones of copper-bearing ore bodies or as a post-mining material – primarily from slag dumps.

Mineralogy

Hazards and Warnings

Mineral collectors should wash their hands after handling specimens, to avoid any exposure to potential toxins.

Almost all rocks, minerals (and, frankly, almost all other substances on earth) can produce toxic dust when cutting, which can cause serious respiratory conditions including silicosis. When cutting or polishing rocks, minerals, shells, etc, all work should be done wet to minimise the dust, and a suitable respirator or extraction system should be used.

Translations

Further Reading / External Links

• https://www.mindat.org/min-4315.html
• https://handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/wroewolfeite.pdf
• https://webmineral.com/data/Wroewolfeite.shtml
• https://museum.wales/mineralogy-of-wales/database/?mineral=123&name=Wroewolfeite