Aurichalcite
Aurichalcite is quite scarce in the sense it is only known from few deposits, chiefly in
Arizona and Mexico, in reasonable quantity. It is typical of the oxidation zone of
hydrothermal copper veins in arid regions.
Specimen Handling
Aurichalcite is for all practical purposes chemically stable in a normal household
environment, but crystals are very thin and brittle - and they are distinctly "don't touch"
specimens. It is not harmed by light, changes in temperature in the normal comfort
range, or known to decompose. It is probably not appreciably soluble in water, but we
have no certain data.
Bibliography
Anthony, John Williams, Sidney A. Williams, Richard A. Bideaux & Raymond
W. Grant. 1995. Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd ed.
Blackburn, William H. & William H. Dennen. 1997. Encyclopedia of mineral
names. Canadian Mineralogist, special publication 1.
Gaines, Richard W., H. Catherine W. Skinner, Eugene E. Foord, Brian Mason,
Abraham Rosenzweig & Vandall T. King. 1997. Dana's new mineralogy: the
system of mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, 8th
ed.
Hintze, Carl (ed.) 1916-1929. Handbuch der Mineralogie, vol. 1, section 3, part
1.
Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel. 1951. The system of
mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University
1837-1892, 7th ed. Vol. 2.
Panczner, William D. 1987. Minerals of Mexico.
Ramdohr, Paul & Hugo Strunz. 1980. Klockmann's Lehrbuch der Mineralogie,
16th ed.
Roberts, Willard Lincoln, Thomas J. Campbell & George Robert Rapp jr. 1990.
Encyclopedia of Minerals 2nd ed.
This page is authored by Claus Hedegaard.
Mineraler