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Malachite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Chemistry:  Cu₂(CO₃)(OH)₂  [Copper Carbonate Hydroxide]

Discovery: Prehistoric;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).
Malachite gets its name from the Greek word, malache, meaning mallow, a green herb, in reference to green leaf color.

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Carbonates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

5/C.01-20

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

5.BA.10

5 : CARBONATES (NITRATES)
B : Carbonates with additional anions, without H₂O
A : With Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Mg, Mn

Related to:

Azurite - Rosasite Group and related compounds

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Monoclinic - Prismatic

Crystal Habit:

Crystals are acicular to prismatic, thick tabular, equant, several other forms, rounded, in sprays and crude composite aggregates, to 9 cm; typically stalactitic, mammillary, botryoidal, as such, radially fibrous internally.

Twinning:

Untwinned crystals are extremely rare. Typically twinned on [100], sometimes as penetration or polysynthetic twinning.

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

[201] Perfect, [010] Fair

Fracture:

Subconchoidal to Uneven

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

3.5 - 4.0

Density:

3.60 - 4.05 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

None

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Other:

Very slightly soluble in water containing CO2

Optical Properties

Color:

Bright Green, Green, Dark green, Blackish green

Transparency:

Transparent to Subtranslucent to Opaque

Luster:

Adamantine or Vitreous in crystals, Silky if fibrous, Dull or Earthy if massive

Refractive Index:

1.655 - 1.909  Biaxial ( - )

Birefringence:

0.2540

Dispersion:

Relatively weak; r < v

Pleochroism:

X = nearly colorless; Y = yellowish green; Z = deep green.

Occurances

Geological Setting:

A common secondary mineral formed in the oxidation zone of copper deposits; locally may be an ore of copper.

Common Associations:

Aurichalite, Atacamite, Azurite, Brochantite, Calcite, Chalcedony, Chrysocolla, Cuprite, Limonite, Tenorite, Wad

Type Locality:

n/a; Prehistoric

Discovery:

Prehistoric

View mineral photos:

Malachite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Malachite is one of the most popular semi-precious or decorative stones and has been for many years. This is due to its beautiful, patterned bands of light and dark green, its availability and relatively low cost. It has been used in jewelry from the southwest as a beautiful accent or combined with Turquoise or Azurite. It is popular as mounted cabochons, pendants, beads, sculptures, boxes and can even be turned on a lathe to make goblets and candlesticks. Facetable crystals are extremely small since larger ones are too opaque. Malachite occurs in the oxidized portions of copper ore with Azurite and Cuprite. Malachite is available from many sources worldwide including Bisbee and Gila in Arizona, USA; New Mexico and Utah, USA; Zambia; Broken Hill, N.S.W., Australia; Tsumeb, Namibia; Nizhne-Tagilsk, Zaire; and immense masses up to 50 tons from Mednorudyansk, Russia.
 

  
Malachite gems for sale:

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