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Vanadate · Vanadate with halogen (apatite structure) · Apatite Group

Vanadinite

Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl

Brilliant red-orange hexagonal barrels from desert lead mines — the mineral that handed the world vanadium.

Hardness3
Crystal systemHexagonal
LusterSubadamantine
Sp. gravity6.6–7.2
ClassVanadate
←PrevVanackeriteNextVanadio-oxy-chromium-dravite→
Vanadinite specimen

Vanadinite — red-orange hexagonal prisms, the lead-vanadium mineral that gave us vanadium — Photo: TheFurther21 · CC BY-SA 4.0

What is Vanadinite?

Vanadinite is lead chlorovanadate — Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl — and it holds a small place in the history of chemistry: in 1801 Andrés Manuel del Río found a new element in Mexican vanadinite, called it erythronium ('red'), and was talked out of his own discovery. Thirty years later Nils Sefström re-isolated the metal and named it vanadium.

Structurally it belongs to the apatite family — the same atomic scaffolding as pyromorphite and mimetite, built around lead instead of calcium. The result is dense (it is mostly lead, SG ~6.6–7.2), soft (H 3), and spectacular: stubby six-sided prisms in reds and oranges that look almost manufactured.

It is a mineral of deserts. Vanadium is scarce, and vanadinite needs both lead ore to oxidize and V-bearing fluids to supply the second ingredient — conditions best met in the dry oxidized zones of Morocco, Mexico and the American Southwest.

In one sentence: Vanadinite grows as hexagonal prisms and hollow barrels in red-to-orange, is startlingly dense (mostly lead), and is softer than glass.

Physical Properties

The full data table is in the panel alongside. Here’s what those numbers actually mean.

Color and habit. Bright red, orange-red, brick and occasionally yellow — the warm end of the spectrum with a resinous-to-adamantine sparkle. Crystals are textbook hexagonal prisms, often hollow or barrel-shaped.

Density. At SG ~6.9 it is one of the heaviest colorful minerals you can hold — pick one up and the lead announces itself.

Softness. Mohs 3, brittle, white streak. The crystals take wear poorly, which is why sharp undamaged Moroccan clusters command such prices.

Chemistry. Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl — lead, vanadate groups, and a structural chloride ion, in the hexagonal apatite arrangement.

How & Where It Forms

Vanadinite is a secondary mineral of the oxidized zone over lead deposits. As primary sulfides like galena break down, vanadium leached from surrounding rocks combines with the freed lead in oxygen-rich, arid groundwater and crystallizes as vanadinite.

That recipe — lead ore plus desert — explains the map: the great specimen fields at Mibladen and Touissit in Morocco, Zimapán in Mexico, and Arizona's oxidized lead districts.

Often grows alongside:

DescloiziteMottramitePyromorphiteMimetiteCerussiteWulfeniteGoethiteBaryteCalcite

What It’s Used For

Vanadium & lead oreA minor but real source of vanadium — the steel-hardening metal it was named for — and of lead.
Collector specimensIts true modern value: glowing red-orange hexagonal barrels from Morocco are among the most recognizable display minerals.

How to Identify It

Red-orange hexagonal prisms + lead-weight heft in a dry lead-district specimen is essentially diagnostic. Pyromorphite is greener, crocoite forms needles not prisms, and wulfenite forms thin square plates rather than six-sided barrels.

Bright red-orange six-sided prisms — color plus habit is nearly diagnosticVery heavy for its size (SG ~6.6–7.2, lead-rich)Softer than glass (H 3), white streakFound in dry, oxidized lead deposits
Looks like…But differs because…Quick test
PyromorphiteSame apatite family and habit, but green to yellow-green; a phosphate, not a vanadateColor & association
MimetiteAlso hexagonal lead chloride, but typically yellow 'campylite' barrels; an arsenateColor
CrocoiteBrighter orange-red but slender striated monoclinic needles, never stubby hexagonal prismsCrystal form
WulfeniteOrange too, but thin square plates rather than six-sided prismsCrystal form
DescloiziteCrusts and drusy surfaces in browns and blacks, not free-standing hexagonal prismsHabit

Where It’s Found

Notable localities for fine specimens:

Mibladen (ACF Mine), Morocco Touissit, Morocco Zimapán, Mexico Old Yuma Mine, USA Tsumeb Mine, Namibia Broken Hill, AustraliaOpen the locality map →

References & Further Reading

  1. Dana's New Mineralogy, 8th ed. Apatite group, vanadates.
  2. Mindat.org — Vanadinite mineral data and locality records.
  3. Wikipedia — Vanadinite.

Last reviewed 2026-09-14 · How to cite this page.