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Formula: Pb(WO4)
Anhydrous tungstate,
scheelite group,
the tetragonal
paramorph of
raspite, which is monoclinic; forms a series with
wulfenite
Crystal System: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 8.34 measured, 8.408 calculated
Hardness: 2½ to 3
Streak: White
Colour: Reddish brown, brown, yellowish grey, smoky-grey, grey-brown, straw-yellow, lemon-yellow, orange-yellow, red
or green (rare)
Solubility: Decomposed by hydrochloric acid with the separation of yellow tungstic acid (Mindat)
Melting Point: 1,123oC
Common impurities: Mo
Environments
Stolzite is an uncommon mineral in the oxidised zone of hydrothermal tungsten-bearing lead deposits, associated
with raspite, cerussite,
anglesite, pyromorphite and
mimetite
(HOM)
Localities
At Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, stolzite is extremely rare, but it has been found with
anglesite
(AJM 3.1.66 ).
At the Kara mine, Tasmania, Australia, stolzite has been found in a
vesuvianite - pyroxene -
magnetite - andradite
skarn in pockets with mimetite and
cerussite, on quartz,
scheelite, andradite and
epidote
(AJM 13.1.50).
At the Sumidoro mine, near Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, stolzite occurs with
raspite
(Dana).
At the Cariboo District, British Columbia, Canada, stolzite occurs with
scheelite and hydrokenoelsmoreite variety
ferritungstite
(Dana).
The type locality is at Zinnwald, Ore Mountains, Europe.
At the Sainte Lucie mine, Lozere, France, fine specimens of stolzite to several cm in length have been found in
vugs in galena - quartz veins associated
with cerussite and also with
pyromorphite. The country rocks are
mica-poor
quartzitic gneisses containing
scheelite
(Minrec 42.1.9-32).
At Neudorf, Harzgerode mining district, Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, stolzite occurs as coatings over corroded
wolframite, and sometimes as an almost complete replacement of
wolframite crystals embedded in quartz
(Minrec 43.1.45).
At the Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, stolzite is not rare, and
it often forms a solid solution with wulfenite
(R&M 90.1.48).
At the Erongo mountains, Karibib, Erongo Region, Namibia, rare microcrystals of stolzite have been found on
orthoclase
(Minrec 37.5.450).
At Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia, stolzite has been found as crystals to 2.5 cm on
tennantite,
as crystals to 1 mm on a crust of tiny beudantite crystals, associated with
chalcocite, on
quartz and on hedyphane
(R&M 94.1.79-80).
At the Cligga mine, Perranzabuloe, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, rare supergene stolzite,
raspite and philipsbornite occur
with partly oxidised galena on a few small specimens from a
wolframite-bearing quartz vein.
The stolzite has been found associated with philipsbornite and
plumbogummite in a small cavity
(Mines & Minerals 34.29-32).
At the Primos Mine, Dragoon, Cochise Mining District, Little Dragoon Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona, USA, two
specimens of millimeter sized stolzite crystals have been found on the dump of the Boericke or Primos mine. They
came from vugs in a quartz vein which contains
chalcopyrite, sphalerite,
hübnerite, scheelite,
fluorite and galena
(AM 26.429).
At the Reef Mine, Huachuca mountains, south of Tombstone, Cochise county, Arizona, USA, stolzite crystals have
been found implanted on the walls of cavities in vein quartz from which sulphides
have been weathered out. Elsewhere the vein contains scheelite, as well as
galena, chalcopyrite,
pyrite and limonite
(AM 26.429).
Near Miami, Gila county, Arizona, USA, stolzite containing about 9 per cent MoO3 occurs in cavities in
quartz and disseminated in limonite
(AM 43.156).
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