Category
page 2Copper(II) minerals
zincmelanterite
Zincmelanterite is a mineral, a sulfate of zinc, copper and iron with the chemical formula . It is a soft monoclinic yellow green mineral with Mohs hardness of 2 and a specific gravity of 2.02.
herbertsmithite
Herbertsmithite is a rhombohedral green-coloured mineral with chemical formula ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2. It is named after the mineralogist Herbert Smith (1872–1953) and was first found in 1972 in Chile. It is polymorphous with kapellasite and closely related to paratacamite. Herbertsmithite has also been found near Anarak, Iran, hence its other name, anarakite.
sampleite
Sampleite has a general formula of NaCaCu5(PO4)4Cl·5(H2O). It was first described in 1942 for an occurrence in Chuquicamata, Chile and was named after Mat Sample, a mine superintendent for the Chile Exploration Company.
niedermayrite
Niedermayrite is a rare hydrated copper cadmium sulfate hydroxide mineral with formula: Cu4Cd(SO4)2(OH)6·4H2O. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and occurs as encrustations and well formed vitreous blue-green prismatic crystals. It has a specific gravity of 3.36.
tlalocite
Tlalocite is a rare and complex tellurate mineral with the formula Cu10Zn6(TeO4)2(TeO3)(OH)25Cl · 27 H2O. It has a Mohs hardness of 1, and a cyan color. It was named after Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, in allusion to the high amount of water contained within the crystal structure. It is not to be confused with quetzalcoatlite, which often looks similar in color and habit.
derriksite
Derriksite is a very rare uranium mineral with the chemical formula Cu4(UO2)(SeO3)2(OH)6•H2O. It is a secondary mineral that contains copper, uranium and the rarer selenium. It is a bright green to duller bottle green colour. Its crystal habit is acicular, it is most likely to be found along with the uranyl selenium mineral demesmaekerite, but derriksite is much rarer than demesmaekerite. It is named after Jean Marie Francois Joseph Derriks (1912–1992), geologist and administrator of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK). It has a Mohs hardness of about 2.
gilalite
Gilalite is a copper silicate mineral with chemical composition of Cu5Si6O17·7(H2O).
astrocyanite-(Ce)
Astrocyanite-(Ce) is a bright blue mineral with the chemical formula . Its type locality is Kamoto East Open Cut, Kamoto, Kolwezi, Lualaba, Congo
chloroxiphite
Chloroxiphite is a rare olive green to pistacio green lead copper halide mineral with formula: Pb3CuO2Cl2(OH)2.
leightonite
Leightonite is a rare sulfate mineral with formula of K2Ca2Cu(SO4)4•2H2O.
murdochite
Murdochite is a mineral combining lead and copper oxides with the chemical formula (x ≤ 0.5).
attikaite
Attikaite is a copper calcium aluminum arsenate mineral with the chemical formula CaCuAl(AsO)(OH)·2HO. It was named after Attica Prefecture, where it was first identified.
lyonsite
thumb | right | Rock containing lyonsite
Lyonsite (Cu3Fe+34(VO4)6) is a rare black vanadate mineral that is opaque with a metallic lustre. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. Lyonsite often occurs as small tabular typically well formed crystals. Lyonsite has a good cleavage and a dark gray streak.
kernowite
Kernowite is a mineral which was first described in 2020. It is named for Cornwall, which in the Cornish language is Kernow.
spertiniite
Spertiniite is a rare copper hydroxide mineral. Chemically, it is copper(II) hydroxide with the formula Cu(OH)2. It occurs as blue to blue-green tabular orthorhombic crystal aggregates in a secondary alkaline environment altering chalcocite. Associated minerals include chalcocite, atacamite, native copper, diopside, grossular, and vesuvianite.
krut'aite
Kruťaite, simplified '''Krut'aite or krutaite''', is a rare mineral with the formula CuSe2. It crystallises in the cubic crystal system. It is part of the pyrite group, being composed of Cu2+ ions and Se22− ions. The mineral is most often found as a dark grey aggregate consisting of tiny crystals no more than a millimeter in size. The crystals are opaque in any size.
teineite
Teineite is a tellurite mineral with the formula Cu(TeO3). 2 H2O. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and it comes in many different shades of blue, ranging from cerulean blue to bluish-gray. The mineral millsite has the same chemical composition, but crystallizes in the monoclinic system, while teineite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system.
triazolite
Triazolite is an organic mineral with the chemical structure of NaCu2(N3C2H2)2(NH3)2Cl3·4H2O, and is formed in conjunction with chanabayite, another natural triazolate anion salt. Triazolite has only been found in Pabellón de Pica, Chanabaya, Iquique Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile, due to its specific requirements for formation. The first specimens of triazolite were found in what is suspected to be the guano of the guanay cormorant. The guano reacted to chalcopyrite-bearing gabbro, allowing the formation for triazolite to take place. Triazolite was initially grouped together with chanabayit
chalconatronite
Chalconatronite is a carbonate mineral and rare secondary copper mineral that contains copper, sodium, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, its chemical formula is Na2Cu(CO3)2•3(H2O). Chalconatronite is partially soluble in water, and only decomposes, although chalconatronite is soluble while cold, in dilute acids. The name comes from the mineral's compounds, copper ("chalcos" in Greek) and natron, naturally forming sodium carbonate. The mineral is thought to be formed by water carrying alkali carbonates (possibly from soil) reacting with bronze. Similar minerals include malachite, azurite, and other
aubertite
Aubertite is a mineral with the chemical formula CuAl(SO4)2Cl·14H2O. It is colored blue. Its crystals are triclinic pedial. It is transparent. It has vitreous luster. It is not radioactive. Aubertite is rated 2-3 on the Mohs Scale. The sample was collected by J. Aubert (born 1929), assistant director, National Institute of Geophysics, France, in the year 1961. Its type locality is Queténa Mine, Toki Cu deposit, Chuquicamata District, Calama, El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile.
urusovite
Urusovite is a rare copper aluminium arsenate mineral with formula: CuAlAsO5. It is a monoclinic-prismatic light green mineral.
utahite
Utahite is an extremely rare secondary copper zinc tellurate mineral found as a product of oxidation. Its chemical formula is Cu5Zn3(Te6+O4)4(OH)8·7H2O.
blossite
Blossite is an anhydrous copper vanadate mineral with the formula: . Blossite was named for mineralogist F. Donald Bloss of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
fletcherite
Fletcherite is a rare thiospinel sulfide mineral with formula . It is an opaque metallic steel gray mineral which crystallizes in the cubic crystal system. It is a member of the linnaeite group.
apachite
Apachite is a copper silicate mineral with a general formula of Cu9Si10O29·11H2O. The name is associated with the Apache tribe residents of the area near the Christmas copper mine in the Dripping Spring Mountains of Gila County, Arizona, the location where apachite was first described in 1980.
cesbronite
Cesbronite is a copper-meteatellurate oxysalt mineral with the chemical formula Cu3Te6+O4(OH)4 (IMA 17-C). It is colored green and its crystals are orthorhombic dipyramidal. Cesbronite is rated 3 on the Mohs Scale. It is named after Fabien Cesbron (born 1938), a French mineralogist.
calumetite
Calumetite is a natural rarely occurring mineral. It was discovered in 1963 at the Centennial Mine near Calumet, Michigan, United States. Calumetite was first discovered along with anthonyite. It has a chemical formula of .
fehrite
Fehrite is a hydroxyl-bearing, hydrated, copper-magnesium sulfate mineral approved by the International Mineralogical Association as a new species in 2019 and formally described in 2021 from specimens obtained from the Casualidad mine, located near Baños de Sierra Alhamilla, in Pechina (Almería), Spain, which is consequently the type locality. The name is a tribute to Karl Thomas Fehr, Professor of Mineralogy at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Germany.
ziesite
Ziesite is a copper vanadate mineral with formula: β-Cu2V2O7. It was discovered in 1980 as monoclinic crystals occurring as volcanic sublimates around fumaroles in the crater of the Izalco Volcano, El Salvador. It is named after Emanuel George Zies (1883–1981), an American geochemist who studied Izalco in the 1930s.
andychristyite
Andychristyite (IMA symbol: Acs) is a lead copper tellurate mineral with the chemical formula PbCuTeOHO. Its type locality is the Soda Mountains in California. It was named after Welsh–Australian mineralogist Andrew G. Christy.
antipinite
Antipinite (IMA symbol: Atp) is a rare alkali Copper oxalate mineral with the chemical formula . Its type locality is the Tarapacá Region in Chile.
ammineite
Ammineite is the first recognized mineral containing ammine groups. Its formula is [CuCl2(NH3)2]. The mineral is chemically pure. It was found in a guano deposit in Chile. At the same site other ammine-containing minerals were later found:
tlapallite
Tlapallite is a rare and complex tellurate mineral with the chemical formula . It has a Moh's hardness of 3 and it is green in colour. It was named after the Nahua word "Tlalpalli", which translates to paint, referring to the paint-like habit of the mineral. Its formula and crystal structure were redefined in 2019, showing it contained a mixed-valence phyllotellurate layer .
cyprine
sorosilicate mineral
ransomite
Ransomite is a sulfate mineral first discovered at the United Verde mine in Jerome Arizona. This mineral was formed as a result of a mine fire. The United Verde mine is one of few places in the world where Ransomite can be found. This mineral can be described as a soluble sulfate that forms needle-like crystals and has a pale blue color in transmitted light. This mineral was named by Carl B. Lausen as a tribute to Frederick Leslie Ransome. Ransome was an American mining geologist who worked at the California Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona and the United states Geological Su
marklite
Marklite is a hydrated copper carbonate mineral named after Gregor Markl, a German mineralogist at the University of Tübingen. Markl found the type specimen of marklite in the dumps of the Friedrich-Christian mine in the Black Forest Mountains in southwestern Germany. Markl specializes in crustal petrology and geochemistry and has studied the hydrothermal ore deposits of the Black Forest area. Jakub Plášil of the Institute of Physics at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and colleagues identified its structure.
khinite
Khinite is a rare orthotellurate mineral with the formula Pb2+Cu2+3TeO6(OH)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and has a bottle-green colour. It is often found as dipyramidal, curved or corroded crystals no more than 0.15 mm in size. The tetragonal dimorph of khinite is called parakhinite.
decrespignyite-(Y)
Decrespignyite-(Y) is a copper yttrium rare earth carbonate chloride hydrate;
With a simple formula of; Cu(Y, REE)4(CO3)4(OH)5Cl · 2H2O
Usually found as single pseudohexagonal platelets, often curved, and regularly measuring 10-50μm in size. It appears as royal blue to turquoise blue in colour, with a pale blue streak, and a pearly to vitreous lustre.
Regarded as a supergene mineral which is believed to be formed through by mildly carbonated ground waters precipitating through the ore body. It is often associated with malachite, kamphaugite-(Y), donnayite-(Y) and caysichite-(Y). It is to be
joanneumite
Joanneumite, confirmed as a new mineral in 2012, is the first recognized isocyanurate mineral, with the formula Cu(C3N3O3H2)2(NH3)2. Its crystal structure is identical to the structure of its synthetic analogue bis(isocyanurato)diamminecopper(II). It is an ammine-containing mineral, a feature shared with ammineite, chanabayaite and shilovite. All of these minerals are very rare and were found in a guano deposit in Pabellón de Pica, Chile.
alpersite
Alpersite (IMA symbol: Aps) is a magnesium copper sulfate mineral with the chemical formula . It is named after United States Geological Survey geochemist Charles N. Alpers and was first described in 2006.
feodosiyite
Feodosiyite is a very rare chloride mineral, just recently approved, with the formula Cu11Mg2Cl18(OH)8•16H2O. Its structure is unique. Feodosiyite comes from the Tolbachik volcano, famous for many rare fumarolic minerals. Chemically similar minerals, chlorides containing both copper and magnesium, include haydeeite, paratacamite-(Mg) and tondiite.