Name:

cuprite (chalcotrichite)

A photo of the mineral cuprite

Class:

Oxide/Hydroxides

Chemistry:

CuO2 copper oxide

Color(s):

deep red, carmine red, red-brown, sometimes gray-black

Hardness:

3.5 - 4

SpecGrav:

5.8 - 6.2

Fracture:

conchoidal

Cleavage:

complete

Crystal:

Isometric (often octahedral and twinned,surface growths, sometimes acicular) fibrous material often called chalcotrichite

Envronment:

found in oxidized zone of copper deposits, hydrothermal sulfide veins, and sometimes in aggregates.

Association:

copper, malachite, azurite, chrysocolla, limonite

Locals:

| Tennessee, Arizona, USA | Bolivia | Mexico | Japan | Australia | Germany |

Misc:

Scientific name comes from the Latin "cuprum", meaning copper. It's nickname is "ruby copper" from old miners. Pseudomorphs of malachite after cuprite a fairly common.

Photos
& Locals:

1.) Kolwezi-Shaba, Zaire
2.) Kolwezi-Shaba, Zaire

3.) Kolwezi-Shaba, Zaire

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