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Wulfenite
 
 
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Wulfenite is a lead
Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
 molybdate
Molybdate

In chemistry a molybdate is a compound containing an oxoanion with molybdenum in its highest oxidation state of 6. Molybdenum can form a very large range of such oxoanions which can be discrete structures or polymeric extended structures, although the latter are only found in the solid state.The larger oxoanions are members of group of comp...
 mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 with the formula PbMo
Molybdenum

Molybdenum , is a Group 6 element chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It has the List of elements by melting point melting point of any element....
O
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
4.

It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form it is sometimes called "yellow lead ore". Wulfenite is not hard enough to be classified as a gemstone
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
.

Wulfenite is named for Franz Xavier von Wulfen (1728-1805), an Austrian mineralogist.

Wulfenite crystalizes in the tetragonal system
Tetragonal crystal system

In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 lattice point groups. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the Cube becomes a rectangular Prism with a square base and height ....
, often occurring as stubby, pyrimidal or tabular crystals.






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Wulfenite is a lead
Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
 molybdate
Molybdate

In chemistry a molybdate is a compound containing an oxoanion with molybdenum in its highest oxidation state of 6. Molybdenum can form a very large range of such oxoanions which can be discrete structures or polymeric extended structures, although the latter are only found in the solid state.The larger oxoanions are members of group of comp...
 mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 with the formula PbMo
Molybdenum

Molybdenum , is a Group 6 element chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It has the List of elements by melting point melting point of any element....
O
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
4.

It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form it is sometimes called "yellow lead ore". Wulfenite is not hard enough to be classified as a gemstone
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
.

Wulfenite is named for Franz Xavier von Wulfen (1728-1805), an Austrian mineralogist.

Wulfenite crystalizes in the tetragonal system
Tetragonal crystal system

In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 lattice point groups. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the Cube becomes a rectangular Prism with a square base and height ....
, often occurring as stubby, pyrimidal or tabular crystals. It also occurs as earthy, granular masses. It shows a white streak and has a hardness of 2.75 - 3.0 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness
Mohs scale of mineral hardness

Not to be confused with Siemens_#Mho, a unit of electric conductance.The Mohs scale of mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material....
. It is a dense mineral, with a specific gravity
Specific gravity

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure, typically at 4?C and , making it a dimensionless quantity ....
 of 6.5-7.0.

Wulfenite is found in many localities, associated with lead
Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
 ore
Ore

An ore is a type of Rock that contains minerals such as gemstones and metals that can be extracted through mining and refined for use. Samples of ore in the form of exceptionally beautiful crystals, exotic layering visible when sectioned or polished or metallic presentations such as large nuggets or crystalline formations of metals suc...
s as a secondary mineral
Weathering

Weathering is the decomposition of earth Rock , soils and their minerals through direct contact with the planet's atmosphere. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no movement", and thus should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, wind, and gravity....
 associated with the oxidized
Redox

Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number changed.This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane , or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body through a ser...
 zone of lead deposits. It is also a secondary ore of molybdenum
Molybdenum

Molybdenum , is a Group 6 element chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It has the List of elements by melting point melting point of any element....
, and is sought by collectors.

A noted locality for wulfenite is the Red Cloud Mine in Arizona. Crystals are deep red in color and usually very well formed. The Los Lamentos locality in Mexico produced very thick tabular orange crystals. Samples from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

Phoenixville is a Borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States, 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the junction of French Creek with the Schuylkill River....
, while usually not bigger than microcrystals, are desirable because of the unusual location.

See also

  • List of minerals
    List of minerals

    This is a List of minerals for which there are Wikipedia articles. Mineral variety names and mineraloids are to be listed after the valid minerals for each letter....
  • List of minerals named after people
    List of minerals named after people

    This is a list of minerals named after people. The chemical composition follows name when available.Sorted by name:...