the.com/wulfenite
a lead-and-molybdenum crystal that glows like trapped orange fire on cave walls
means Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral, typically forming bright orange to yellow tabular crystals prized by collectors as a striking specimen and a minor ore of molybdenum.
from Named in the early 19th century for Franz Xaver von Wulfen, an Austrian Jesuit priest and mineralogist who studied the lead ores of Carinthia; the suffix "-ite" is the standard mineral-naming ending, from Greek "-ites," meaning "of" or "belonging to" — so the word literally honors Wulfen's name pressed into stone.
- composition
- lead molybdate, a heavyweight in mineral form
- crystal shape
- grows in thin square tabular plates
- arizona icon
- official state mineral of Arizona
- color range
- orange, red, yellow, sometimes nearly colorless
- radioactive cousin
- forms where galena ore slowly oxidizes underground