Stone, minerals and semiprecious of the world stone
Sulphide: Chalcopyrite -->rus
Diagnostic cart.
Pseudo-octahedral crystals of chalcopyrite (golden-yellow color) in an association with a marmatite - variety of sphalerite
Cu Fe S2
Crystal structure tetragonal
Hardness on the Mohs scale 3,5-4
Specific unit weight mass 4,2-4,3
Cleavage non-existent
Fracture, break padman
Colors greenish-yellow, gold, brass-yellow, gold, often with dark blue or pied oxide tint
Colors in powder triturate grey-greenish
Glance (glitter, glare) metallic
Chalcopyrite (copper pyrites), is a sulfide of copper and iron. Glance (glitter, glare) metallic; opaque. Colors brass-yellow, gold, pied oxide tint is characteristic. A line is greenish-black. Fracture, break padman, uneven. Fragile. Cleavage noperfect absolute. Be found in muffle ores and in cooper slates. Crystals (tetragonal Crystal structure) quite often paired twin (duplex). More frequent composes dense the masses or dispersion, dissemination forms. Main base ore of copper. Deposit minefield mine field occurrence subsoil: Garc (Germany), Norway, Finland, England, Spain, CIS, Canada, USA.
Crystallizes in tetragonal Crystal structure, rarer as crystals of pseudotetrahedron habitus. Dense micrograin the masses of yellow-brass color are ordinary with a tendency to greenish. Often covered an iridescent raid, has metallic brilliance. Plastinchatye twins are not uncommon. A widely distributed yellow mineral consisting of a sulphide of copper and iron in tetragonal crystalline form: the principal ore of copper. Formula: CuFeS2. Also called: copper pyrites.
Chemical composition (chemistry, compound)-maintenance (in %): Si- 34,57; Fe - 30,54; S - 34,9; the admixtures of manganese can be marked, antimony, gold, silver, selenium and other of Crystal structure - tetragonal, tetragonal-scalenohedral type of symmetry. Cleavage- noperfect absolute on (201). Occur in nature mainly in continuous the masses and as impregnated of wrong form. Crystals are observed rarely, extended or isometric, tetrahedron, rarer pseudooctahedral, pseudododecahedral habitus. The followings simple forms are typical: (112), (100), (001), {012}, (013) and other On verges the stages of growth are often present, as a result crystals acquire the rounded form. Twins are characteristic to on (111), {112}, (012) and (110).
Diagnostic indication.
Mineral of middle hardness, easily scratches the blade of penknife. Due to it easily to distinguish him from a Pyrite, much more hard. Chalcopyrite - heavy, fragile frail brittle, deprived cleavage, opaque. A grey-greenish color has powder, sometimes almost black. As all of minerals, containing a copper, chalcopyrite of in powder triturate gases in flame. intensively painted in a green color.
Origin provenance genesis.
Chalcopyrite has mine genesis typically. It appears in the process of crystallization of remaining magmatic fluid in the rocks of granit type and in pegmatites. It is more frequent than all associated with sphalerite, Pyrite, Pyrrotine and minerals of nickel. A mineral can meet in air of abstraction among effusive basic rocks, in contact-metamorphic and basic sediments deposits, appearing at destruction of primary rocks.
Chalcopyrite and galena, galenite in фосфоритовой concretion. Timkovo, Podoliya, Ukraine (CIS). A photo: © A.A. Evseev.
Deposit minefield mine field occurrence subsoil.
The very beautiful crystals of chalcopyrite (arriving at in length 2 sm) take a place from Savoyi (France, EU). Pro-myshlenno the developed ores are widespread in the USA, Canada, Chile, in the different African countries and on Cyprus. In Europe an important value is had deposit of Russia (CIS), Sweden, Norway, Spain, former Yugoslavia and Germany. In Italy the deposit of Montekanini is widely known in Val'-Chechina (a province Piza). It is almost fully mined-out now, but in the period of working off was one of main in Italian industry.
Use, practical application, deployment.
Chalcopyrite - one of major ores on a copper. Business is even not in high maintenance of this metal (contents get the most 30-35%), but in very wide distribution of mineral. It is considered that approximately 80% world booty of copper is on chalcopyrite.
