I wondered excitedly whether this might be the
triplite or perhaps the v[per thousand]yrenenite locality.
In general the minerals reported from Alchuri form a coherent Alpine-cleft-type assemblage, except for the reported pegmatite phosphates
triplite and vayrynenite, which are not actually from Alchuri.
Almandine-spessartine enclosed in
triplite was described from the old Elliot claims, north of Pietershill below Hohenstein (Gevers and Frommurze, 1930).
His bright orange
triplite crystal (from Alchuri, Shigar Valley), measuring just under 1 cm, looks like a fine, gemmy spessartine.
Lithiophilite is the principal primary phosphate mineral (Shigley and Brown, 1985), but amblygonite,
triplite, and triphylite (possibly misidentified lithiophilite, A.
Cerro Sapo Amesite-2H, analcime, ankerite, barite, chalcopyrite, dawsonite, galena, natrolite, nordstrandite, sodalite Cerro Ubina Bismuthinite, Pyrite, tourmaline Cerro Vilacota Barite, galena Chacaltaya Arsenopyrite, cassiterite, fluorite, muscovite, nacrite, ullmannite (As-rich "korynite"); see San Carlos 2 Chacarilla Copper, chalcocite, malachite Chajolpaya Cassiterite Challahuilque Chlorargyrite Challana In the vicinity are found columbite, heteosite, rutile, spodumene, triphylite,
triplite, see Fabulosa Challapata Chalcostibite, teallite, wurtzite, See Terremoto, Vicunita Challviri Stibnite Chambillaya Apatite, arsenopyrite, quartz twins, wolframite Chayanta Apatite, cassiterite, silver; see Capacirca, Pucro, Vila Apacheta Chicote Chico Wolframite.
Minerals in the pegmatite are: quartz, microcline, muscovite, albite, amblygonite, "apatite," beryl, uraninite, elbaite, members of the tantalite group, secondary uranium minerals, triphylite,
triplite, purpurite, rockbridgeite, tavorite, barbosalite, hureaulite, eosphorite, phosphosiderite, carlhintzeite, colquirite, pachnolite, ralstonite and fluellite.
Correia Neves and Lopes Nunes (1968) described bermanite, eosphorite, variscite, phosphosiderite, hureaulite, montebrasite, fluorapatite, amblygonite, and
triplite from Alto Ligonha pegmatites.
The
triplite occurs as solid inclusions in fluorapatite, which itself is an inclusion in rhodochrosite.
Electron microprobe analyses for 28 elements were completed on 468 crystals of barite, bornite, chalcopyrite, dickite, digenite, dolomite, fluorapatite, fluorite, galena, hubnerite, illite, jalpaite, muscovite, pyrite, quartz, rhodochrosite, sphalerite, stromeyerite, tennantite, tetrahedrite, topaz and
triplite. The intrinsic value of microprobe analyses to the mineralogist lies in the ability of the instrument to produce quantitative chemical analyses of spots that are as small as 2 microns.
These include isolated, somewhat brecciated pods of phosphate minerals up to a meter across composed predominantly of lithiophilite and albite with lesser amounts of triploidite,
triplite and triphylite.