Pucherite

For the dedicated systematic collector or anyone with an interest in rare and exotic species, Pucherite is a bismuth vanadate and this richly crystallised specimen is from it type locality, Pucher Shaft in the Wolfgang Maaßen Mine Field in Saxony, Germany.  Excellent euhedral Pucherite crystals richly encrust many sides of the light buff-grey matrix; they range from sub-mm to about 2 mm and there are probably several hundred.  Although not confirmed or noted on the label, the rich mustard-yellow crusts are likely to be Schumacherite, a hydrated bismuth vanadate whose type locality is also Pucher Shaft.  This is an extremely rich specimen of one, and possibly two, rare bismuth vanadates.