Shattuckite Sphere - 82mm - DR of Congo Shattuckite, Azurite and Chrysocolla Specimen and photos : (C) Classic Rocks and Gems Shattuckite is a copper silicate hydroxide mineral with formula Cu5(SiO3)4(OH)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic – dipyramidal crystal system and usually occurs in a granular massive form and also as fibrous acicular crystals. It is closely allied to plancheite in structure and appearance. Shattuckite is a relatively rare copper silicate mineral. It was first discovered in 1915 in the copper mines of Bisbee, Arizona, specifically the Shattuck Mine (hence the name). It is a secondary mineral that forms from the alteration of other secondary minerals. At the Shattuck Mine, it forms pseudomorphs after malachite. A pseudomorph is an atom by atom replacement of a crystal structure by another crystal structure, but with little alteration of the outward shape of the original crystal. Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France.[2] The mineral, a carbonate, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elders Natural History under the Greek name kuanos (κυανός: deep blue, root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum.[4] The blue of azurite is exceptionally deep and clear, and for that reason the mineral has tended to be associated since antiquity with the deep blue color of low-humidity desert and winter skies. The modern English name of the mineral reflects this association, since both azurite and azure are derived via Arabic from the Persian lazhward (لاژورد), an area known for its deposits of another deep blue stone, lapis lazuli (stone of azure). Chrysocolla is a hydrated copper cyclosilicate mineral with formula: Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4·nH2O (x
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:13:44 +0000
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