Cornetite | |
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Cornetite from the type locality, Star of the Congo Mine, Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 5.7 × 3.9 × 3.9 cm in size | |
General | |
Category | Phosphate minerals |
Formula (repeating unit) | Cu3PO4(OH)3 |
IMA symbol | Cne |
Strunz classification | 8.BE.15 |
Dana classification | 41.03.02.01 |
Crystal system | Orthorhombic |
Crystal class | Dipyramidal (mmm) H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m) |
Space group | Pbca |
Unit cell | a = 10.845(10) Å, b = 14.045(10) Å, c = 7.081(5) Å; Z = 8 |
Identification | |
Formula mass | 336.63 g/mol |
Color | Dark blue to green-blue |
Crystal habit | Crystals are short prismatic |
Twinning | On {h0l} |
Cleavage | None observed |
Mohs scale hardness | 4.5 |
Luster | Vitreous |
Diaphaneity | Transparent to translucent |
Specific gravity | (Measured) 4.10 |
Optical properties | Biaxial (−) |
Refractive index | nα = 1.765 nβ = 1.810 nγ = 1.820 |
Birefringence | δ = 0.055 max |
Pleochroism | Non-pleochroic |
2V angle | Measured: 33°, Calculated: 48° |
Dispersion | None |
Solubility | cold HCl |
References |
Cornetite is a phosphate of copper with hydroxyl, named after the geologist Jules Cornet [fr]. It was discovered in 1917.
Type locality
Cornetite is most notably found in the Star of Congo mine, near Lubumbashi.
Environment
Cornetite is a rare secondary mineral in some hydrothermal copper deposits.
Structure
Unlike related phases such as pseudomalachite, the copper atoms are all five-fold coordinated by oxygen. There are three unique copper sites that are all quite distorted from ideal symmetry. Two are in approximate tetragonal pyramids and the third is essentially a trigonal bipyramidal coordination. Edge sharing polyhedra lead to copper-copper dimer formation, and the overall structure is a three-dimensional network of copper-oxygen polyhedra.
References
- Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
- http://www.mindat.org/min-1131.html Mindat.org
- "Cornetite Mineral Data".
- http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/cornetite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
- ^ Fehlmann, M.; Ghose, Subrata; Finney, J. J. (1964). "Direct Determination of the Crystal Structure of Cornetite, Cu3PO4(OH)3, by the Monte Carlo Method". J. Chem. Phys. 41 (7): 1910. Bibcode:1964JChPh..41.1910F. doi:10.1063/1.1726182.