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Chrysocolla Pictures

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This Chrysocolla is providing the cement for the Breccia (sedimentary rock).  This is a silica-rich Chrysocolla (note the drusy quartz lined pockets in the upper left portion of the photo).  This specimen is from Bagdad, Arizona.

Another Breccia with Chrysocolla cement.  This, and the following two images, is from the Ray Mine in Arizona.

CHEMISTRY  CuSiO₃^.nH₂O     Hydrous copper silicate

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY  Orthorhombic (?)

CRYSTAL GROWTH AND HABITS  Crystals form as acicular masses or are finely fibrous.  Most commonly, chrysocolla is cryptocrystalline and massive. 

COLOR AND OTHER OPTICAL PROPERTIES  Blue to green, translucent to opaque

HARDNESS  2 -4       

SPECIFIC GRAVITY  1.9 - 2.4        

LUSTER  Vitreous to dull and porcelain like

STREAK  White to light blue

BREAKABILITY  Conchoidal fracture, brittle  

OCCURRENCE  Chrysocolla is a secondary mineral found in the oxidized zone of copper-bearing mineral veins.

ASSOCIATED MINERALS  Malachite, Azurite, Copper