Named after its type locality, the Zuni mine in San Juan County, Colorado, zunyite is an uncommon aluminum sorosilicate mineral that shows a soft, cherry red fluorescent response under short wave UV. The specimen shown here features hundreds of small fluorescent zunyite crystals in a matrix of mostly non-fluorescent quartz. This example is from a classic location for this material- the Big Bertha mine in La Paz County, Arizona. This size of this specimen is 67 x 30 x 27 mm and it weighs 52 grams.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c24caa_c0755757fa7246feac5b92df78308037~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/c24caa_c0755757fa7246feac5b92df78308037~mv2.jpg)
Small octahedral crystals of zunyite show a rich, soft red fluorescent response under short wave UV (254 nm).
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c24caa_1a70c333083946ab9c9cd0c5c90f3e0c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/c24caa_1a70c333083946ab9c9cd0c5c90f3e0c~mv2.jpg)
Same specimen shown under visible light. Small tan colored octahedral crystals of zunyite in a light/white matrix of milky quartz.