Poughite is a rare secondary mineral found in the oxidation zones of tellurium-rich ore deposits. It typically forms attractive yellow to orange-yellow tabular crystals or crusts, often associated with other rare tellurates and tellurites.
Is this poughite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch poughite with a known reference. Poughite sits at Mohs ~2.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: light yellow.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: brownish yellow, greenish yellow, dark yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: botryoidal, tabular.
Often confused with
Poughite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Emmonsite is the harder of the two (Mohs ~5 vs. ~2.5); streak differs, so Poughite leaves light yellow, Emmonsite leaves pale yellow.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Poughite leaves light yellow, Tlapallite leaves pale green.
Often found alongside poughite
Minerals reported to co-occur with poughite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Fe³⁺₂(TeO₃)₂(SO₄)·3H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- ~2.5
- Density
- 3.758 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Light yellow
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Semitransparent
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Botryoidal, tabular
- Cleavage
- On {010}, perfect; on {101}, good
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector
- Host rock
- An alteration product of pyrite in the oxidized zone of a hydrothermal Au–Te deposit (Moctezuma mine, Mexico)
Where rockhounds find poughite
Classic worldwide localities
- Lone Pine mine, Wilcox district, Catron Co., New Mexico, USA
- Klondike mine, Bonanza district, Saguache Co., Colorado, USA
- El Plomo mine, Ojojona district, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Moctezuma (Bambolla) mine, 12 km south of Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico
- Tambo mine, El Indio-Tambo district, east of La Serena, Coquimbo, Chile
- Kobetsuzawa gold mine, Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: An alteration product of pyrite in the oxidized zone of a hydrothermal Au–Te deposit (Moctezuma mine, Mexico). If you start seeing pyrite, emmonsite, jarosite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: botryoidal, tabular. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify poughite?+
Where is poughite found?+
Is poughite safe to handle?+
What rocks look like poughite?+
What minerals are found with poughite?+
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Find poughite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
