Bieberite (CoSO₄ · 7H₂O) is a pinkish red colored

sulfate mineral The sulfate minerals are a class of minerals that include the sulfate ion () within their structure. The sulfate minerals occur commonly in primary evaporite depositional environments, as gangue minerals in hydrothermal veins and as secondary mine ...

high in

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

content. The name is derived from the type locality at the copper deposit in Bieber,

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

.Mindat.org - Bieberite
/ref>Webmineral.com - Bieberite
/ref> It has been described and reported as far back as the 1700s.Sage (1791) ''Le Journal de physique et le radium, Paris'', 39: 53 (as Cobalt Vitriol).Klaproth, M.H. (1797) "''Untersuchung des natürlichen Kobaltvitriols von Herrengrund, Beiträge zur chemischen Kenntniss der Mineralkörper"'', Zweiter Band, Rottmann Berlin, pp. 320.Kopp (1808) ''Allgemeines Journal der Chemie, Berlin 1798-1803 (Scherer’s Journal)'', 6: 157 (as Kobaltvitriol).Beudant, F.S. (1832) ''Trailé élémentaire de Minéralogie, second edition, 2 volumes'', 2: 481 (as Red Vitrol. Sulphate of Cobalt. Rhodhalose).Haidinger (1845) 489 (as Bieberit).Winkelblech (1845) ''Ann. Chem.'', 13: 265.Marignac (1855) ''Mém. soc. phys. nat. Genève'', 14: 245 (artificial material).Goldschmidt, V. (1913) ''Atlas der Krystallformen. 9 volumes, atlas, and text'', 1: 194.Larsen, E.S. and Glenn (1920
“Some minerals of the melanterite and chalcanthite groups with optical data on the hydrous sulphates of manganese and cobalt“
''American Journal of Science'', 50: 225-233.Westenbrink (1926) ''Proceedings of the Academy of Science Amsterdam'', 29: 1223.Porter (1928) ''Festschr. V. Goldschmidt'', Heidelberg, 210.Palache, C., Berman, H., Frondel, C. (1951) "''The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II: Halides, Nitrates, Borates, Carbonates, Sulfates, Phosphates, Arsenates, Tungstates, Molybdates, Etc."'' John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 7th edition, revised and enlarged: pp. 507. Bieberite primarily occurs as a secondary mineral, forming in cobalt-bearing

arsenide In chemistry, an arsenide is a compound of arsenic with a less electronegative element or elements. Many metals form binary compounds containing arsenic, and these are called arsenides. They exist with many stoichiometries, and in this respect a ...

and sulfide deposits through

oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a ...

.Handbook of Mineralogy - Bieberite
/ref> Natural bieberite crystals may have a small amount of cobalt

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an orna ...

sites instead occupied by

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

(Palache et al., 1960).

Geologic occurrence

Aside from the type locality at Hesse, Germany bieberite has been found in multiple countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, as well as in Japan. In

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

bieberite was identified for the first time in the 2000s at the Lavrion Pb- Ag- Zn deposit, a polymetallic sulfide deposit that underwent supergene oxidation during its formation.Skarpelis, N. And Argyraki, A. (2009
“Geology and Origin of Supergene Ore at the Lavrion Pb‐Ag‐Zn Deposit, Attica, Greece”
''Resource Geology'', 59(1): 1-14. In

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, bieberite has been found at mines Penberthy Croft Mine and Wheal Alfred in St Hilary,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Phillack Phillack ( kw, Eglosheyl) is a village (and formerly a parish) in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about one mile (1.6 km) northeast of Hayle and half-a-mile (0.8 km) inland from St Ives Bay on Cornwall's Atlantic ocean ...

, Cornwall respectively.Golley, P. and Williams, R. (1995) "''Cornish Mineral Reference Manual."'' Endsleigh Publications, Great Britain
Online pdf
. Bieberite was identified in volcanic cave settings for the first time at

Irazú Volcano The Irazú Volcano ( es, Volcán Irazú) is an active volcano in Costa Rica, situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago. The name could come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "tzu" (thunder) or a corruptio ...

, Costa Rica and reported in 2018.Ulloa, A., Gázquez, F., Sanz-Arranz, A., Medina, J., Rull, F., Calaforra, J.M., Alvarado, G.E., Martínez, M., Avard, G., de Moor, J.M., and Waele, J.D. (2018
“Extremely high diversity of sulfate minerals in caves of the Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica) related to crater lake and fumarolic activity”
''International Journal of Speleology'', 47(2): 229-246. The mineral roemerite was identified at Island Mountain, Trinity County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

for the first time in association with bieberite along with

pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it i ...

claudetite Claudetite is an arsenic oxide mineral with chemical formula As2O3. Claudetite is formed as an oxidation product of arsenic sulfides and is colorless or white. It can be associated with arsenolite (the cubic form of As2O3) as well as realgar (As4S ...

goslarite Goslarite is a hydrated zinc sulfate mineral () which was first found in the Rammelsberg mine, Goslar, Harz, Germany. It was described in 1847. Goslarite belongs to the epsomite group which also includes epsomite () and morenosite (). Goslarite i ...

, fibroferrite, and morenosite and a description of the mineral from the site published in 1927.Landon, R.E. (1927
“ROEMERITE FROM CALIFORNIA”
''American Mineralogist'', 12(7): 279-283. The occurrence of bieberite at the Island Mountain deposit had earlier been recorded in 1923.Eakle, A.S. (1923
''“Minerals of California, Issue 91 of Bulletin (California State Mining Bureau)”''
California State Printing Office, Sacramento, California, pp. 275. Uranium mineralization in the Cameron Area of

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

was found to have bieberite as one of the cobalt mineral species in association with secondary

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

minerals formed through

.Austin, S.R. (1964
''“MINERALOGY OF THE CAMERON AREA: COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA, U.S. Atomic Energy Comm. RME 99”''
Tech. Inf. Serv., Oak Ridge, Tennessee, pp. 9.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

*Palache, P.; Berman H.; Frondel, C. (1960). "''Dana's System of Mineralogy, Volume II: Halides, Nitrates, Borates, Carbonates, Sulfates, Phosphates, Arsenates, Tungstates, Molybdates, Etc. (Seventh Edition)"'' John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, pp. 505–507. Sulfate minerals Cobalt minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 10