Copper Minerals: Malachite, Azurite & More
You have already discovered malachite and azurite on this puzzle. These are the two most common copper ore minerals found in Arizona. However, there are other copper minerals to be discovered in Arizona. Many more. Here are a few.
Aurichalcite
As you study the minerals of Arizona, you will quickly learn that combinations of different minerals are very common. You will discover wulfenite with smithsonite, azurite with malachite, cerussite with malachite, calcite with copper, to name just a few combinations.
Pictured to the left is a well-known specimen of hollow aurichalcite spheres that have grown with the mineral hemimorphite. Hemimorphite is colorless and glassy.
Pictured to the left is a well-known specimen of hollow aurichalcite spheres that have grown with the mineral hemimorphite. Hemimorphite is colorless and glassy.
In addition to its occurrence as fine crystals, hemimorphite also occurs in rounded masses like the pale blue-green specimen picture here to the right.
The specimens pictured above are both from an important mine, The 79 Mine in Gila County. The 79 mine is an underground mine that produced a number of different metals including lead, zinc, copper, silver, gold, molybdenum and iron. It is still mined for mineral specimens today.
Question for You: What causes the green and blue-green colors in the minerals you see here? Click HERE for the answer. (Did you get it right?!)
Cuprite
Cuprite is a copper ore that you may not know as well as malachite and azurite. It is a very important mineral because the copper that is removed from it makes a lot of money for the mine owners in the Bisbee mining district.
The mines in Bisbee have produced some of the best cuprite specimens found anywhere in the world. The specimen pictured here is one of these specimens. It is a complicated crystal that grew on a matrix of bright green antlerite (antlerite is another copper mineral). It is from the Southwest mine, Bisbee.
The mines in Bisbee have produced some of the best cuprite specimens found anywhere in the world. The specimen pictured here is one of these specimens. It is a complicated crystal that grew on a matrix of bright green antlerite (antlerite is another copper mineral). It is from the Southwest mine, Bisbee.
The cuprite crystal specimen is pictured above looks like it is a pretty large crystal. It is pictured on the cover of the May-June 1987 issue of The Mineralogical Record where it is 6 inches wide! However, this outstanding specimen is actually only 1 inch wide. Some of the best mineral specimens in the world are not the largest specimens. They may very well be among the smallest! Some collectors specialize in specimens that are an inch or less in size. These small specimens are called thumbnail specimens because they are about the size of, you guessed it, your thumbnail.
Micromounting
Since we are talking about different mineral specimen sizes, you should know about a specialty category of mineral collecting. It is called micromounting. This is the hobby of collecting crystal specimens that can only be seen with the help of a binocular microscope. Click HERE and discover the Top Ten Reasons to Get Into Micromounting.
Below is a YouTube video of how to prepare a micromount specimen.
Below is a YouTube video of how to prepare a micromount specimen.
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