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 ...

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, pro ...

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 Darms ...

, Germany.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 Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...

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 d ...

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

and copper (Palache et al., 1960).

Geologic occurrence

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

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'' is ...

and South America, 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 Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 with ...

bieberite was identified for the first time in the 2000s at the Lavrion Pb- Ag- Zn deposit, a polymetallic sulfide deposit that underwent

supergene A supergene is a chromosomal region encompassing multiple neighboring genes that are inherited together because of close genetic linkage, i.e. much less recombination than would normally be expected. This mode of inheritance can be due to genomic ...

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 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

, bieberite has been found at mines

Penberthy Croft Mine Penberthy Croft Mine, is a disused mine and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK. It is located to the north of the civil parish of St Hilary, east of the town of Penzance. The mine was designated a SSSI in 1 ...

and Wheal Alfred in St Hilary, Cornwall 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 co ...

, 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 corrupti ...

, 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 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 territori ...

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 is ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

, Arizona 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 weakly ...

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