1.6" Orange Wulfenite Crystals on Quartz - Rowley Mine, Arizona

Wulfenite is a lead based, molybdate mineral with a chemical formula Pb(MoO4). It forms as a secondary mineral in the oxidation zones of hydrothermal lead deposits, with coloring ranging anywhere between yellow to bright orange and red, and occasionally brown. Typically forming as tabular, stubby or pyramidal crystals, this unique mineral can be both brilliantly transparent and opaque.

While these crystals are safe to hold, due to the fact that they are lead-based, washing your hands following handling is strongly suggested.

Silicon Dioxide, also known as SiO2 or Quartz, is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich, hot watery solutions called hydrothermal environments, at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountains forming, and can be hundreds of millions of years old.