Vandenbrandeite, Cuprosklodowskite

Superb, solid specimen of well-crystallized bright-green Vandenbrandeite with minor Cuprosklodowskite from the famous Shinkolobwe mine in the DR Congo. Beautiful under magnification, with great crystals of lustrous Vandenbrandeite which look absolutely gorgeous through the microscope lens! For this species at Shinkolobwe this is about as good as it gets in my opinion. Very rich and quite nicely-crystallized. This is from a small set of specimens kept intact from the 1950’s and thought to have originally perhaps been property of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, who was closely involved with mining at Shinkolobwe in the WWII (and later) period due to the importance of Congolese uranium ore in the Manhattan Project as well as the development of nuclear energy. Ex. New Mexico Mineral Museum. Rare!!