dioptase
Sign in to saveDioptase is an intense emerald-green to bluish-green mineral that is cyclosilicate of copper. It is transparent to translucent. Its luster is vitreous to sub-adamantine. Its formula is , also reported as . It has a Mohs hardness of 5, the same as tooth enamel. Its specific gravity is 3.28–3.35, and it has two perfect and one very good cleavage directions. Additionally, dioptase is very fragile, and specimens must be handled with great care. It is a trigonal mineral, forming six-sided crystals that are terminated by rhombohedra.
Key facts
- Mineral.boxbgcolor
- 115544
- Mineral.boxtextcolor
- fff
- Mineral.name
- Dioptase
- Mineral.category
- Cyclosilicates
- Mineral.image
- Dioptase, quartz 1100.2612.jpg
- Mineral.imagesize
- 260px
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Dpt
- Mineral.strunz
- 9.CJ.30
- Mineral.system
- Trigonal
- Mineral.class
- Rhombohedral () H–M symbol: ()
- Mineral.symmetry
- R (No. 148)
- Mineral.unit cell
- a = 14.566, c = 7.778 [Å]; Z = 18
- Mineral.color
- Dark teal, emerald green
- Mineral.habit
- Six-sided prisms terminated by rhombohedrons, to massive
- Mineral.cleavage
- Perfect in three directions
- Mineral.fracture
- Conchoidal
- Mineral.tenacity
- Brittle
- Mineral.mohs
- 5
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- cyclosilicates
- Image
- Dioptasecongo2.jpg
Show 11 more facts
- Strunz 8th edition (series ID, updated)
- VIII/C.09
- Commons category
- Dioptase
- chemical formula
- CuSiO₃·H₂O
- Nickel-Strunz 9th edition (updated 2009)
- 9.CJ.30
- Nickel-Strunz '10th ed', review of (9th ed/ 2009 update)
- 9.CJ.30
- crystal system
- trigonal crystal system
- type locality (geology)
- Karaganda Region
- streak color
- green
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- Mohs' hardness
- 5
- IMA Mineral Symbol
- Dpt
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- History
- Occurrence
- Use
- Crystal structure and properties
- Gallery
- See also
- References
Dioptase is an intense emerald-green to bluish-green mineral that is cyclosilicate of copper. It is transparent to translucent. Its luster is vitreous to sub-adamantine. Its formula is , also reported as . It has a Mohs hardness of 5, the same as tooth enamel. Its specific gravity is 3.28–3.35, and it has two perfect and one very good cleavage directions. Additionally, dioptase is very fragile, and specimens must be handled with great care. It is a trigonal mineral, forming six-sided crystals that are terminated by rhombohedra.
It is popular with mineral collectors and is sometimes cut into small gems. It can also be pulverized and used as a pigment for painting.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “dioptase” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.