azurite
Sign in to saveAzurite or Azure spar is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carbonate with the chemical formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name (κυανός: "deep blue," root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum. Copper (Cu2+) gives it its deep blue color.
AI overview
Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral that forms naturally when copper ore deposits weather over time, and its distinctive color comes from copper content. Known since ancient times and valued throughout history, azurite has been an important mineral resource that people have recognized and named across multiple ancient civilizations.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Mineral.boxbgcolor
- 0066CC
- Mineral.name
- Azurite
- Mineral.boxtextcolor
- fff
- Mineral.category
- Carbonate mineral
- Mineral.image
- Azurite - New Nevada Lode, La Sal, Utah, USA.jpg
- Mineral.caption
- Azurite from New Nevada lode, La Sal, Utah, United States
- Mineral.formula
- Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Azu
- Mineral.molweight
- 344.67 g/mol
- Mineral.strunz
- 5.BA.05
- Mineral.system
- Monoclinic
- Mineral.class
- Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Mineralogy
- Color
- Weathering
- Occurrences
- Uses
- Pigments
- Jewelry
- Collecting
- Prospecting
- History
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
Azurite or Azure spar is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carbonate with the chemical formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name (κυανός: "deep blue," root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum. Copper (Cu2+) gives it its deep blue color.
==Mineralogy== left|thumb|220px|Chemical structure of azurite. Color code: red = O, green = Cu, gray = C, white = H) Azurite has the formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, with the copper(II) cations linked to two different anions, carbonate and hydroxide. It is one of two relatively common basic copper(II) carbonate minerals, the other being bright green malachite. Aurichalcite is a rare basic carbonate of copper and zinc. Simple copper carbonate (CuCO3) is not known to exist in nature, due to the high affinity of the ion for the hydroxide anion .