libethenite
Sign in to saveLibethenite is a rare copper phosphate hydroxide mineral. It forms striking, dark green orthorhombic crystals. It was discovered in 1823 in Ľubietová, Slovakia and is named after the German name of that locality (Libethen). Libethenite has also been found in the Miguel Vacas Mine, Conceição, Vila Viçosa, Évora District, Portugal, and in Tier des Carrières, Cahai, Vielsaim, Stavelot Massif, Luxembourg Province, Belgium.
Key facts
- Mineral.name
- Libethenite
- Mineral.category
- Phosphate minerals
- Mineral.image
- Libethenite-tuc1033a.jpg
- Mineral.imagesize
- 260px
- Mineral.formula
- Cu2PO4OH
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Lib
- Mineral.strunz
- 8.BB.30
- Mineral.system
- Orthorhombic
- Mineral.class
- Dipyramidal (mmm) H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
- Mineral.symmetry
- Pnnm
- Mineral.color
- Light to dark green, blackish green, olive-green
- Mineral.habit
- Globular, druzy, slender prismatic
- Mineral.cleavage
- Indistinct on [100] and [010]
- Mineral.fracture
- Irregular, uneven to conchoidal
- Mineral.tenacity
- Brittle
- Mineral.mohs
- 4
- Mineral.luster
- Vitreous, greasy
- Mineral.refractive
- nα = 1.701 – 1.704 nβ = 1.743 – 1.747 nγ = 1.787 – 1.790
via Wikipedia infobox
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Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Appearance
- Formation
- References
Libethenite is a rare copper phosphate hydroxide mineral. It forms striking, dark green orthorhombic crystals. It was discovered in 1823 in Ľubietová, Slovakia and is named after the German name of that locality (Libethen). Libethenite has also been found in the Miguel Vacas Mine, Conceição, Vila Viçosa, Évora District, Portugal, and in Tier des Carrières, Cahai, Vielsaim, Stavelot Massif, Luxembourg Province, Belgium.
== Appearance == thumb|left|Detail of gemmy, emerald-green, orthorhombic libethenite microcrystals on malachite, from the type locality, [[Ľubietová, Slovakia. See :File:Libethenite-258236.jpg for the full specimen.]] Libethenite almost always takes the form of dark-green orthorhombic crystals. It is often found in clusters with other libethenite crystals.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “libethenite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.