Metazeunerite: Shazijiang U deposit, Miaoershan Uranium District, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Description

Species: Metazeunerite
Locality: Shazijiang U deposit, Miaoershan Uranium District, Guilin, Guangxi, China
Dimensions: 3.8 x 2.5 x 5.2 cm. 

A small recent discovery at an obscure uranium deposit located in the Miaoershan Uranium District near Guilin in southern China’s Guangxi Province has yielded superb specimens of well-crystallized parsonsite, kasolite, and metazeunerite, with possible dewindtite, renardite, and phosphuranylite. The main uranium species have all been confirmed by powder and single crystal XRD analysis (January 2025). For parsonsite in particular, these are world-class specimens, some of the best I have seen from any locality, particularly in recent history. The kasolite crystals are also superb, with excellent color, size and perfection.. under the microscope they resemble “Sputnik” style balls with beautiful gemmy radiating bright orange crystals… fantastic! The paragenesis of this find is also very interesting and unusual… the Shazijiang Uranium deposit is a small vein-type deposit in which there is no primary pitchblende or uraninite left at all… instead secondary uranium minerals are found growing directly on a matrix of cerussite, pyromorphite, and mimetite, which presumably provided the lead (and phosphorus) for the abundant secondary lead phosphate uranium minerals! This was a small find and I was lucky to obtain all the best specimens, which I am offering for sale here. Rare material and something truly exciting in the world of secondary uranium minerals!

This is an excellent example of very rich, basically solid metazeunerite and lesser kasolite and pars0nsite. Fantastic for the species, and great under the scope!!