Cornetite
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
CategoryPhosphate minerals
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu3PO4(OH)3
IMA symbolCne[1]
Strunz classification8.BE.15
Dana classification41.03.02.01
Crystal systemOrthorhombic
Crystal classDipyramidal (mmm)
H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
Space groupPbca
Unit cella = 10.845(10) Å,
b = 14.045(10) Å,
c = 7.081(5) Å; Z = 8
Identification
Formula mass336.63 g/mol
ColorDark blue to green-blue
Crystal habitCrystals are short prismatic
TwinningOn {h0l}
CleavageNone observed
Mohs scale hardness4.5
LusterVitreous
DiaphaneityTransparent to translucent
Specific gravity(Measured) 4.10
Optical propertiesBiaxial (-)
Refractive indexnα = 1.765 nβ = 1.810 nγ = 1.820
Birefringenceδ = 0.055 max
Pleochroismnon-pleochroic
2V angleMeasured: 33° , Calculated: 48°
Dispersionnone
Solubilitycold HCl
References[2][3][4][5]

Cornetite is a phosphate of copper with hydroxyl, named after the geologist Jules Cornet. 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.[5]

References

  1. 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.
  2. http://www.mindat.org/min-1131.html Mindat.org
  3. "Cornetite Mineral Data".
  4. http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/cornetite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
  5. 1 2 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.
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