Chrysocolla ( ) is a hydrous copper phyllosilicate mineral and mineraloid with the formula (x < 1)
History
The name chrysocolla comes from the Ancient Greek (') and ('), meaning "gold" and "glue" respectively, in allusion to the name of the material used to solder gold. The word was first used by Theophrastus in 315 BC.
Geology
Chrysocolla has a cyan (blue-green) color and is a minor ore of copper, having a hardness of 2.5 to 7.0. It is of secondary origin and forms in the oxidation zones of copper ore bodies. Associated minerals are quartz, limonite, azurite, malachite, cuprite, and other secondary copper minerals. It is typically found as botryoidal or rounded masses and crusts, or vein fillings.
A 2006 study has produced evidence that chrysocolla may be a microscopic mixture of the copper hydroxide mineral spertiniite, amorphous silica and water.
Gallery
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Chrysocolla-Tyrolite-Clinotyrolite-202106.jpg|Powder-blue chrysocolla as stalactitic growths and as a thin carpet in vugs inside a boulder of nearly solid tyrolite, from the San Simon Mine, Iquique Province, Chile (size: )
Chrysocolla-201585.jpg|Banded white to blue green chrysocolla, from Bisbee, Arizona (size: )
Chrysocolla-bolo.jpg|Chrysocolla and silver bolo tie. This chrysocolla specimen is from the Kennecot Copper Mine in Bingham Canyon, West Valley City, Utah.
Brochantite-Chrysocolla-k329b.jpg|Brochantite (emerald green) and chrysocolla, from the Rokana Mine, Zambian Copperbelt
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See also
- Chrysocolla (gold-solder)