Szenicsite Locality: Jardinera No. 1 Mine, Inca de Oro, Chañaral Province , Atacama Region , Chile ( Locality at mindat.org ) Size: miniature, 3.5 x 3.1 x 1.7 cm Szenicsite Szenicsite is a very rare copper molybdate found in an abandoned copper mine in the early 1990s by a friend of mine. Talk about incredible luck! But, he also has a skill for collecting! This superb miniature is from the collection of the discoverer, after whom it was named, and he autographed the back of his label for me for posterity. Terry sold it to me in the early 90s, after which I sold it to rarities collector Paul Stahl, from whom I exchanged it back recently (though this was one of the best miniatures, he had gotten a larger specimen since, so I took this back). The specimen is a solid mass of crystals, complete even on the back, and has the typical electric shimmering green color that this find is known for. He never found a second pocket, after this first hit (in the early 1990s), and these remain today a freak of nature - a beautiful new species found in display size, and chemically interesting as well. This remains the type and , to my knowledge, only locality for the species. How many large crystallized copper molybdates are there? And, of all the rarities out there, these are big and showy for the price PLUS you know exactly, unlike with many species, how many there were and roughly how your specimen ranks among them (from my memory of seeing much of the pocket sold). — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Szenicsite
A green copper hydroxymolybdate from Chile's Atacama — once mistaken for lindgrenite.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Szenicsite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the molybdate class, with the chemical formula Cu₃(MoO₄)(OH)₄.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Pnn2).
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3.5–4; specific gravity 4.26; Malachite-green streak; Adamantine luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Sze, IMA status: approved, named in 1993.
A uncommon secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of a copper–molybdenum deposit in granite.
It is found associated with Powellite, chrysocolla, brochantite, lindgrenite, gold, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, hematite, barite, quartz.
The mineral was named to honor husband and wife Marissa Szenics (1950–) and Terry Szenics (1947–), mineral collectors and dealers who found the first specimens.