Conichalcite Crysyals Aggregates
Conichalcite Crysyals Aggregates. Locality: Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Photo: Mintreasure.com |
Exceptional apple green conichalcite aggregates with cuprite and chrysocolla on matrix
Conichalcite, CaCu, is a relatively common arsenate mineral related to duftite. It is green, often botryoidal, and occurs in the oxidation zone of some metal deposits. It occurs with limonite, malachite, beudantite, adamite, cuproadamite, olivenite and smithsonite
Formula: CaCu(AsO4)(OH)
System: Orthorhombic
Colour: Bright green, with ...
Hardness: 4½
Streak: Light green
Conichalcite Crysyals Aggregates. Photo: Mintreasure.com |
Conichalcite forms in the oxidation zones of copper orebodies. Here groundwater enriched with oxygen reacts with copper sulfide and copper oxide to produce an array of minerals such as malachite, azurite and linarite. Conichalcite is often found encrusted on to limonitic rocks that have yellow to red colors.