Mexican Minerals 7: Vanadinite and Endlichite

Abstract

The history of the discovery of vanadinite, as well as that of vanadium, is the history of the misfortune of its true, but unrecognized, discoverer, Andrés Manuel del Río. The author recounts that the discovery of vanadinite, Pb5 (VO4)Cl, is credited to von Kobell in 1838, but it is actually the "brown lead of Zimapán," which was believed to be lead phosphate, in which Del Río discovered vanadium, an element he first called "pancromic" (in a note sent to Spain on September 26, 1802, and published in the Annals of Natural Sciences of Madrid, vol. 6, no. 16, in May 1803) and later "erithronium," realizing that red was the predominant color in its compounds. As is well known, European scientists refuted this discovery, arguing that it was chromium. When vanadium was recognized as a new element in 1830, its discovery was attributed to the Swedish scientists Selfström, Wöhler, and Berzelius, who reanalyzed the brown lead samples from Zimapán brought to Europe by von Humboldt and recognized them as a vanadium mineral. Upon learning of this, Del Río tried to reclaim at least the discovery of the mineral, the brown lead of Zimapán, which he called "zimapanio" in 1835, describing it as vanadic chloride; however, if it had previously been denied, it was now ignored, and credit for its discovery was awarded to von Kobell three years later. In addition to describing the properties of vanadinite, the author of this issue also records the properties of its variety, endlichite, in which arsenic replaces vanadium.

Abstract from:

Gómez-Caballero, J. A. (2005). Historia e índice comentado del Boletín del Instituto de Geología de la UNAM. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana: Volumen Conmemorativo del Centenario Aspectos históricos de la Geología Mexicana, 57I(2), 149-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2005v57n2a3