A medium purple purpurite tower with a velvet silver sheen. Purpurite is a manganese-iron phosphate mineral that usually occurs on the surface of Triphylite due to heavy oxidation. Along with occurring on top of one mineral, it can also be found by itself, crystallized in mass formation. This mineral was discovered in 1905 by L.C. Graton and W.T. Schaller. They named this newly found rock after the Latin word “purpura”, referencing its purple color.