[Rockhounds] Need Quick Help

[larryrush at att.net]

John: If the color is a bright blue, I would be suspicious. The Chinese make chalcanthite  (soluble CuSO4) these days. And it can form as small, flat crystals in crusts. Since copper is not common in SE Asia, It is possible that what you have is man-made. It is probably not related to any cobalt mineral, in any way.

Larry Rush

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-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of John Scully
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2017 4:12 AM
To: Rockhounds <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>; Virgil Lueth <vwlueth at nmt.edu>
Subject: [Rockhounds] Need Quick Help

Hello, All

I am in Yen The, Vietnam for two more days.  The shops are selling a new mineral they call coban or co ban.  It is small bright blue crystals crusted on an indeterminate matrix.  Under a loupe the crystals are formless.  It is very pricey.  I cannot find anything out about it on Google except that it means "cobalt" in Vietnamese.  Help!  If it really is something desirable beyond its nice appearance, I would buy a few pieces.

Thanks
John Scully
☺
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