PLANCHEITE
Specimen pln-1

Dims: 1.4 x 1.2 x 0.7" (3.6 x 3.0 x 1.8 cm)

Wt: 9.8 g

Mashamba Mine, Shaba Province, Zaire

This beautiful thumbnail piece consists almost entirely of Plancheite. It occurs in the form of tiny, fibrous crystals whose clusters form an undulating, botryoidal crust, which likely lined a hollow in a rock that has since eroded away or been removed. It has the classic pale blue coloration of its species and shows a silky luster. Only a very small amount of what appears to he a limonite host rock is present.

Dims: 1.2x0.8x0.4" (3.0x2.1x1.1cm)

Wt: 0.21 oz. (5.9g)

Shangulowe, Zaire

This thumbnail specimen of plancheite consists of dozens of radial sprays of acicular crystals. The crystals (in tiny puffballs) are a perfect turquoise color, and are translucent. Also on this specimen are radial sprays of a bright green mineral, which I suspect is brochantite. The tips of both minerals are frequently accompanied by an acicular white mineral, which I cannot identify, and which obscures the deep colors of the underlying minerals. With a loupe, the brightness and clarity of the plancheite (and brochantite) is apparent.