Chrysocolla, Malachite and Tenorite
| ID | 591 | |
|---|---|---|
| Mineral |
Chrysocolla
Malachite Tenorite |
|
| Location | Kolwezi Mine - Kolwezi - Haut-Katanga - Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Fluorescence | LW-UV: close SW-UV: close |
|
| Mindat.org |
View Chrysocolla information at mindat.org View Malachite information at mindat.org View Tenorite information at mindat.org |
|
Mindat data
| ID | 1040 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:1040:1 |
| Formula |
(Cu2-xAlx)H2-xSi2O5(OH)4 · nH2O
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Other Occurrences | Found in the oxidation zone of copper deposits, often encrusting or replacing earlier secondary minerals. |
| Industrial | A very minor ore of copper. |
| Discovery Year | 315 |
| Diapheny | Translucent,Opaque |
| Cleavage | None |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Green, bluish green, blue, blackish blue to black, or brown and rarely yellow |
| Hardness (min) | 2.5 |
| Hardness (max) | 3.5 |
| Luminescence | None |
| Lustre | Vitreous - Dull |
| About the name | The name was first used by Theophrastus in 315 B.C. and comes from the Greek "chrysos", meaning "gold," and "kolla", meaning "glue," in allusion to the name of the material used to solder gold. André-Jean-François-Marie Brochant de Villiers revived the name in 1808. |
| Streak | Light green (unknown for black or yellow varieties) |
| Crystal System | Orthorhombic |
| Cleavage Type | None Observed |
| Fracture type | Irregular/Uneven,Sub-Conchoidal |
| Morphology | Most often found as cryptocrystalline to amorphous botryoidal aggregates and crusts. Crystals reported as fine acicular to fibrous, very rare. |
| Twinning | None reported. |
| key_elements |
0 |
| shortcode_ima | Ccl |
| ID | 2550 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:2550:4 |
| Formula |
Cu2(CO3)(OH)2
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Other Occurrences | It is the most common secondary mineral found in the oxidized zones of copper deposits. |
| Industrial | A minor ore of copper when abundant enough in a copper deposit. |
| Discovery Year | Unno |
| Diapheny | Opaque |
| Cleavage |
Perfect on |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Bright green, with crystals deeper shades of green, even very dark to nearly black; green to yellowish green in transmitted light. |
| Hardness (min) | 3.5 |
| Hardness (max) | 4.0 |
| About the name | Named in antiquity (see Pliny the Elder, 79 CE) molochitus after the Greek μαλαχή, "mallows," in allusion to the green colour of the leaves. Known in the new spelling, malachites, at least by 1661. |
| Streak | Light green |
| Crystal System | Monoclinic |
| Cleavage Type | Perfect |
| Fracture type | Splintery |
| Morphology | Crystals uncommon, usually short or long prismatic or acicular, parallel to [001]; often grouped in rosettes, sprays, or tufts. Botryoidal to mammillary aggregates of radiating fibrous crystals more common. It may also be massive, compact, and stalactitic. |
| Twinning | Untwinned crystals are extremely rare. Typically twinned on {100}, sometimes as penetration or polysynthetic twinning with the axis parallel to [201]. |
| Thermal Behaviour | Loses water at about 315°, leaving tenorite. |
| key_elements |
0 |
| shortcode_ima | Mlc |
| Group | Rosasite Group |
| ID | 3912 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:3912:9 |
| Formula |
CuO
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Other Occurrences | In the oxidized zone of copper deposits, also as volcanic sublimate. |
| Discovery Year | 1841 |
| Diapheny | Opaque |
| Cleavage |
In zones [011] and |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Grey, black |
| Hardness (min) | 3.5 |
| Hardness (max) | 3.5 |
| Lustre | Metallic |
| About the name | Named after Michele Tenore (5 May 1780, Naples, Italy - 19 July 1861, Naples, Italy), Professor of Botany, University of Naples and G. Tenore, President of the Naples Academy (Italy). The alternate name melaconite was in frequent use before 1962, when the IMA voted unanimously to use tenorite. |
| Streak | Black |
| Crystal System | Monoclinic |
| Cleavage Type | Poor/Indistinct |
| Fracture type | Irregular/Uneven,Conchoidal |
| Morphology | Paper-thin twinned aggregates and laths parallel {100} and elongated [011] (Vesuvius); striated [010] on {100}. Curved plates. Thin shining flexible scales. Stellate groups. Earthy, powdery. |
| Twinning | 1. Common on {011}, producing dovetail reentrants and feather-like forms as seen on {100}; also stellate groups and complex dendritic patterns. 2. On {100} ? |
| key_elements |
0 |
| shortcode_ima | Tnr |
Details
Price: € 80
Dimensions: Not registered
Weight: Not registered
Visibile in overview:
Notes:
| Symbol | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| Al | Aluminium | |
| C | Carbon | |
| Cu | Copper | |
| H | Hydrogen | |
| O | Oxygen | |
| Si | Silicium |