Fluorescent Mineral Database

A new secret project! Trying to create a nice Fluorescent Mineral Database (FMDB), which would be searchable by mineral, locality, and luminescence properties. Also making it easy for people to contribute with their own specimens!

Tarbuttite - Broken Hill (Kabwe) Mine, Zambia

Contributed by: FMS Admin
Date: May 9th, 2026
Locality: Kabwe Mine, Kabwe, Kabwe District, Central Province, Zambia (See on Mindat)

Description:
Here is a quartet of Tarbuttite specimens from the Broken Hill (Kabwe) Mine in Kabwe, Zambia. Though not as bright as the material from the Skorpion Mine in Namibia, this material has some delicate beauty on its own. Interestingly, the color ranges from a deep orange to a peach to a blue, white. There also appear to be some yellow needles, but I have no clue what they may be. The first piece is a small cabinet sized piece, the other three are miniatures of about an inch and a half to about two and a quarter inch.

Originally posted by Fire Viper on Nature's Rainbows in 2017.

Fluorescence under longwave UV light.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light.
Normal light.
Normal light.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 2.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 2.
Normal light. Specimen 2.
Normal light. Specimen 2.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 3.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 3.
Normal light. Specimen 3.
Normal light. Specimen 3.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 4.
Fluorescence under longwave UV light. Specimen 4.
Normal light. Specimen 4.
Normal light. Specimen 4.

Summary of luminescence responses:

Tarbuttite (Mindat) (RRUFF)

  • Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Orange
  • Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: White

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