Wulfenite

Usually included in the group of minerals forming the lead ore. Copies of the bright colors and well formed crystals are highly valued by collectors.
Wulfenite named after the Austrian mineralogist Franz von Wolf, who found the mineral in Carinthia (Austria). It is also called yellow lead because of the high density, the presence of lead ore and characteristic color.
EDUCATION AND APPEARANCE
Wulfenite - secondary mineral formed in the oxidation zone of ore deposits containing lead and molybdenum minerals. Usually associated with cerussite, vanadinitom, limonite and anglesite. Wulfenite occurs in the form of massive coarse-and fine-grained aggregates or crystallizes in the tetragonal system, the most characteristic of him. Crystals - square and thin, sometimes there are prismatic (Los Lamentos, Mexico) and bipyramidal (Austria, Mexico). For vulfenita also characterized by flat (tabular or plate) crystals of bright colors, which may contain impurities of other minerals, which give them different colors.
SOME PRECAUTIONS
Wulfenite easily melts and lends itself to strong acids. When cleaning is necessary to be very careful and use only mild soap, because strong cleaners can make it dull.
Crystals vulfenita
Being a rare mineral, wulfenite can be any collection of minerals. Its crystals are different exquisite colors ranging from yellow to orange and red. There are also colorless, brown, blue and gray crystals. The latter are of particular interest to know mineralogists.
Interesting field
At present the world's finest specimens are mined in the mine vulfenita Red Cloud Silver District (Arizona, USA). They differ in size, splendor and spectacular fiery red. World-famous designs have recovered from the mines of Los Lamentos, Chihuahua (Mexico) and Twiss (Morocco).
An important component of
Wulfenite - a major source of molybdenum, a chemical element that has a high priority for the steel industry.
Molybdenum - metal light gray with a melting point 2b20 ° C. In free form not found in nature. Molybdenum is part of superalloys essential for nuclear and missile technology.
Reliable friend
Use for the production of molybdenum alloy steel provides a material that is much superior in quality than conventional steel. Molybdenum steel, among others, may be quenched at the highest temperatures. In addition, molybdenum is a replacement for the more expensive items, such as nickel. Among the structures in the construction where such steel, the most impressive, perhaps, are suspension bridges. It is made of molybdenum steel cables that support these amazing structures.
MOST FAMOUS
In 1846, engineer John Roebling built the first suspension bridge in the world. The design length of 308 meters located on the Ohio River in Wheeling (Eastern Virginia, USA). His most famous suspension bridge, no doubt - "Golden Gate" (1937). He crosses the San Francisco Bay.
Where seen wulfenite
Mineral found in abundance where there are large deposits of lead, for example, in the U.S., especially in the border states of Mexico, and in Mexico itself, in Morocco, Namibia and Iran.
The central span of the bridge reaches a length of 1280 meters, its support pylon 227 meters.
Red cloud
The most beautiful kind vulfenita has a blood-red color and is mined in Arizona. It is called «Red Cloud», or "Red Cloud", in honor of the great Sioux chief Red Cloud, who led the war in 1866, the American Indian tribes of the west against the white colonists.
Link
The use of molybdenum in steel production yielded an ideal material for the construction of suspension bridges. The photo on the left was captured Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, connecting the Japanese city of Kobe with Awaji Island. It is the longest bridge in the world, reaching 3,911 meters.