538 - Sampleite

ID	538
Mineral	Sampleite
Location	Endeavour 26 - Goonumbla - New South Wales - Australia
Fluorescence	LW-UV: close SW-UV: close
Mindat.org	View Sampleite information at mindat.org

ID	3515
Long ID	1:1:3515:2
Formula	`NaCaCu₅(PO₄)₄Cl · 5H₂O`
IMA Status	0 1
General Appearance	Earthy crusts and crack fillings. Micaceous rosettes and aggregates of small platy crystals in small cracks.
Occurrence	Highly oxidized ore.
Other Occurrences	Oxidized zones of copper deposits in arid climates; in caves derived from copper sulfides in cave walls and phosphorus from bat guano; miarolytic cavities in granite; in pegmatites.
Discovery Year	1942
Diapheny	Transparent
Cleavage	On {010}, perfect; on {100} and {001}, good.
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	Light blue, bluish green; blue in transmitted light.
Hardness (min)	4.0
Hardness (max)	4.0
About the name	Named by Cornelius Hurlbut Jr. in honor of Mr. Matt Sample, Mine Superintendent for the Chile Exploration Company in 1921 (on staff as early as 1915) in Chuquicamata, Chile.
Streak	Light blue
Crystal System	Orthorhombic
Cleavage Type	Perfect
Morphology	Thin lath-like, pseudo-orthorhombic plates, flattened on {010}, elongated along [001]; rosettes; commonly aggregated into crusts.
Twinning	Common.
UV	Not fluorescent.
Thermal Behaviour	Before the blowpipe, fuses at 2 to a black globule coloring the flame bright green.
Comment Luster	Lustre pearly on {010}.
key_elements	0 1
shortcode_ima	Smp
Group	Lavendulan Group

Sampleite