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Buttgenbachite On Cuprite

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SIL715951

Buttgenbachite On Cuprite

Rare Mineral

Description Tabs

Description
Locality: 
Likasi Mine, Kambove, Haut-Katanga, DR Congo
Class: 
Crystals on Matrix
Size Range: 
Miniature (4.5-7 cm)
Size: 
5 × 3.8 × 4.5 cm
Description

Several sprays of electric blue acicular Buttgenbachite crystals on a solid Cuprite matrix. The cavities are lined with whitish blue dots of a copper silicate (probably Chrysocolla). This rare copper nitrate has been found in the 1920s and there were some specimens found until the 1970s. This is part of a new find that was made in early 2018. It is unclear if the specimens are actually from the Likasi Mine or from the Tenke area, but both are part of the same deposits.

Collected: 
2018
Mineral Data
What's on the rock

Buttgenbachite

Formula: 
Cu19(NO3)2(OH)32Cl4·2H2O
Strunz: 
3.DA.25
Crystal System: 
Hexagonal
Hardness: 
3.0
Type Locality: 
Likasi Mine (Panda Mine), Likasi (Jadotville; Jadotstad), Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga (Shaba), Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaïre)

Cuprite

Formula: 
Cu2O
Strunz: 
4.AA.10
Crystal System: 
Isometric
Hardness: 
3.5 - 4.0
Silmarils Minerals