Vulcanite

Vulcanite
General
Category Telluride mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)		 CuTe
Strunz classification 2.CB.75
Crystal system Orthorhombic
Crystal class Dipyramidal (mmm)
H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
Space group Pmnm
Identification
Color Pale to yellow bronze
Crystal habit Massive, granular, tabular
Twinning Common
Cleavage [hk0] Good, [h0l] Indistinct
Fracture Sectile - Curved shavings or scrapings produced by a knife blade
Mohs scale hardness 1 - 2
Luster Metallic
Diaphaneity Opaque
Specific gravity 7.1
Pleochroism Very strong, bright yellow to blue-gray
Fusibility 1.5
References [1][2][3][4]

Vulcanite is a rare copper telluride mineral. The mineral has a metallic luster, and has a green or bronze-yellow tint. It has a hardness between 1 and 2 on the Mohs scale (between talc and gypsum). Its crystal structure is orthorhombic.

Vulcanite is named for the place where it was discovered in 1961, the Mammoth Good Hope Mine in Vulcan (ghost town and district), Gunnison County, Colorado.[3] Small deposits have also been discovered in Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Norway. It occurs with native tellurium, rickardite, petzite, and sylvanite.

References

  1. ↑ http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/vulcanite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
  2. ↑ http://webmineral.com/data/Vulcanite.shtml Webmineral
  3. 1 2 http://www.mindat.org/min-4213.html Mindat
  4. ↑ https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Vulcanite Mineralienatlas
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