Chalcanthite Mineral Data

Chalcanthite Mineral Data +

[How the Club Works] [Memberships - Junior, Deluxe , and Platinum] [FAQ] [Past Minerals]
Join the Club - Junior, Deluxe and Platinum Memberships Available
High Quality Minerals Sent to Your Home or School Each Month
Mineral of the Month Club - An Inexpensive Way to Enjoy Minerals

General Chalcanthite Information

Chemical Formula:

CuSO4·5(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 249.69 gm

Copper 25.45 % Cu 31.86 % CuO

Hydrogen 4.04 % H 36.08 % H₂O

Sulfur 12.84 % S 32.07 % SO₃

Oxygen 57.67 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Cu(SO₄)·5(H₂O)

Environment:

Secondary, formed in arid climates or in rapidly oxidizing copper deposits.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) Prehistoric

Locality:

Walls and timbers of copper mines. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

From the Greek chalkos, "copper" and anthos, "flower." Generally pseudomorphous after Boothite.

Synonym:

Blue Vitrol

Copper Vitrol

ICSD 20657

PDF 11-646

Chalcanthite Image

Images:

Click Here for Larger Chalcanthite Image

Chalcanthite Chalcocyanite

Comments: White to pale bluish chalcocyanite with darker bluish chalcanthite. The mineral is hygroscopic and must be stored in a closed box.
Location: Ronneburg U deposit, Gera district, Thuringia, Germany. Scale: Picture size 4 mm.
© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Images:

Chalcanthite Dolerophanite Fedotovite

Comments: Brown crystals of dolerophanite with blue chalcanthite and green fedotovite.
Location: Great Fissure (Main Fracture) eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Oblast', Far-Eastern Region, Russia. Scale: Picture size 3 mm.
© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Images:

Chalcanthite Fedotovite

Comments: Green fedotovite with pale blue chalcanthite.
Location: Great Fissure (Main Fracture) eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Oblast', Far-Eastern Region, Russia. Scale: Picture size 4 mm.
© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Images:

Chalcanthite

Comments: Fibrous columnar crystalline chalcanthite.
Location: Planet Mine, La Paz County, Arizona, USA. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Chalcanthite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =0.5719:1:0.5579

Cell Dimensions:

a = 6.12, b = 10.7, c = 5.97, Z = 2; alpha = 97.583°, beta = 107.167°, gamma = 77.55° V = 361.55 Den(Calc)= 2.29

Crystal System:

Triclinic - PinacoidalH-M Symbol ( 1) Space Group: P1

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 4.73(1), 3.71(0.85), 3.99(0.6),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: [ 0 2 1] [ 0 1 0] [ 1 3 0] [ 1 1 0] [ 1 1 1] [ 1 0 0]

Warning: this large pop-up is very compute intensive and may not work well with some computers.

Crystal Structure:

Mouse
drag1 - LMB Manipulate Structure
drag2 - RMB Resize/Rotate
Keyboard
S - Stereo Pair on/off
H - Help Screen
I - Data Info
A - Atoms On/Off
P - Polyhedra On/Off
B - Bonds On/Off
Help on Above

Bacon G E , Titterton D H , Zeitschrift fur Kristallographie , 141 (1975) p.330-341, Neutron-diffraction studies of CuSO4*5(H2O) and CuSO4*5(D2O)

View Additional jPOWD Structure files for Chalcanthite
[1]

Physical Properties of Chalcanthite

Cleavage:

[110] Imperfect, [110] Indistinct, [111] Indistinct

Color:

Green, Green blue, Light blue, Dark blue.

Density:

2.12 - 2.3, Average = 2.21

Diaphaniety:

Subtransparent to translucent

Fracture:

Conchoidal - Fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, (e.g. quartz).

Habit:

Encrustations - Forms crust-like aggregates on matrix.

Habit:

Reniform - "Kidney like" in shape (e.g.. hematite).

Habit:

Stalactitic - Shaped like pendant columns as stalactites or stalagmites (e.g. calcite).

Hardness:

2.5 - Finger Nail

Luminescence:

None.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Chalcanthite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.034 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.002 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.233,KPDmeas= 0.2415,KC= 0.2336

Optical Data:

Biaxial (-), a=1.516, b=1.539, g=1.546, bire=0.0300, 2V(Calc)=56, 2V(Meas)=56. Dispersion none.

Calculated Properties of Chalcanthite

Electron Density:

r_electron=2.33 gm/cc
note: r_Chalcanthite=2.29 gm/cc.

Fermion Index

Fermion Index = 0.00124
Boson Index = 0.99876

Photoelectric:

PE_Chalcanthite= 11.43 barns/electron
U=PE_Chalcanthite x r_electron= 26.63 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)

Chalcanthite is Not Radioactive

Chalcanthite Classification

Dana Class:

29.6.7.1 (29)Hydrated Acid and Sulfates

(29.6)where A XO4 · x(H2O)

(29.6.7)Chalchanthite Group (Triclinic: P1¯)

29.6.7.1 Chalcanthite CuSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

29.6.7.2 Siderotil FeSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

29.6.7.3 Pentahydrite MgSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

29.6.7.4 Jokokuite MnSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

Strunz Class:

VI/C.04-40 VI - Sulfates,Chromates,Molybdates and Tungstates

VI/C - Water-bearing sulfates without unfamiliar anions. cations of medium size

VI/C.04 - Chalcanthite group

VI/C.04-10 Pentahydrite MgSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

VI/C.04-20 Siderotil FeSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

VI/C.04-30 Jokokuite MnSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

VI/C.04-40 Chalcanthite CuSO4·5(H2O) P1 1

Other Chalcanthite Information

References:

NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Ford32)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Chalcanthite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery
3 - Athena
4 - EUROmin Project
5 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
6 - Glendale Community College
7 - Google Images
8 - Google Scholar
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
10 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
11 - MinDAT
12 - MinMax(Deutsch)
13 - MinMax(English)
14 - Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom
15 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
16 - Philatelic Mineralogy
17 - QUT Mineral Atlas
18 - Ruff.Info
19 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Chalcanthite using:

[ALTAVISTA] [AOL] [All-The-Web] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [MAMMA] [MSN.COM] [Netscape] [Scirus] [Teoma] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Chalcanthite :

AA Mineral Specimens

B & L Fine Minerals

Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals

Dan Weinrich Auctions

John Betts Fine Minerals

Mason's Minerals

Mineral News

Mineral of the Month Club

MineralsWeb Fine Minerals

The GeoZone

Wrights Rock Shop

Translate Chalcanthite Mineral Data :

Ask about Chalcanthite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Chalcanthite Specimen Label here :

Chalcanthite

CuSO4·5(H2O)
Dana No: 29.6.7.1 Strunz No: VI/C.04-40
Locality:

Notes: