{"title":"Pseudomalachite","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePseudomalachite\u003c\/strong\u003e is a hydrous copper phosphate, Cu5(PO4)2(OH)4, prized by collectors as the phosphate cousin of the far more common carbonate \u003cstrong\u003emalachite\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eIts name, from the Greek for \"false,\" reflects a similarity in appearance to malachite that once caused decades of taxonomic confusion, until L.G. Berry's 1950 study united several old names — dihydrite, lunnite, ehlite, tagilite and prasin — under the single valid species pseudomalachite. Chemically and structurally it is closely tied to the \u003cstrong\u003eclinopyroxene\u003c\/strong\u003e-unrelated phosphate group that includes its polymorphs \u003cstrong\u003ereichenbachite\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eludjibaite\u003c\/strong\u003e, and it is isostructural with \u003cstrong\u003ecornwallite\u003c\/strong\u003e. Colour ranges from blue-green through emerald to a dark, almost blackish green, with a paler blue-green streak, vitreous luster, and a Mohs hardness of about 4.5–5, harder and denser than malachite itself.\", \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003etype locality\u003c\/strong\u003e is the \u003cstrong\u003eVirneberg Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e at Rheinbreitbach in the Westerwald, Germany, an area of copper mining dating back to Roman times; nearby German classics include the \u003cstrong\u003eSilberbrünnle Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e near Gengenbach in the Schwarzwald. Other important European sources are \u003cstrong\u003eĽubietová (Libethen)\u003c\/strong\u003e in Slovakia, the historic copper mines of Cornwall in England, and \u003cstrong\u003eNizhny Tagil\u003c\/strong\u003e in the Russian Urals. Exceptional, gemmy specimens with glossy spherical aggregates of platy crystals come from African copperbelt localities such as \u003cstrong\u003eKakanda\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eM'sesa\u003c\/strong\u003e near Kambove and \u003cstrong\u003eMindouli\u003c\/strong\u003e in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the \u003cstrong\u003eBwana Mkubwa\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eNchanga\u003c\/strong\u003e mines at Ndola and Chingola in Zambia. Fine American material is recorded from the \u003cstrong\u003eEmpire-Nevada mine\u003c\/strong\u003e in Nevada, the Lone Star and Harquehala mines in Arizona, and the \u003cstrong\u003eBlack Pine Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e in Montana, while Chile contributes specimens from \u003cstrong\u003eChuquicamata\u003c\/strong\u003e and Australia from the \u003cstrong\u003eBurra Burra mine\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eSpring Creek mine\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause pseudomalachite forms too irregularly and in too small amounts ever to be mined as ore, its only real value is to mineral collectors, who seek it for its rarity relative to malachite, its rich botryoidal, reniform and radial-fibrous crusts, and occasional rare tabular or prismatic microcrystals. It typically occurs alongside \u003cstrong\u003elibethenite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ecornetite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003echrysocolla\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eazurite\u003c\/strong\u003e and quartz in the oxidised zones of copper sulfide deposits, and specimens showing sharp botryoidal crystal groups or clear associations with these companion phosphates and carbonates are the most desirable for serious systematic and phosphate-mineral collections.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/www.italmineral.com\/collections\/pseudomalachite.oembed","provider":"ITALMINERAL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}