Cuprite
Mineral Cu2O
Also called Ruby copper, Chalcotrichite, and Tile ore
Take care.
- Fades or changes in light: Keep it in the dark, out of sunlight and bright display lights.
About it
Deep red octahedrons and cubes, often coated with green malachite, with a brownish-red streak. Forms where copper ores weather; big crystals come from Onganja, Namibia, and hair-like chalcotrichite from Bisbee, Arizona.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Oxide, cuprite group
- Formula
- Cu2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 3.5–4
- Specific gravity
- 6.1–6.15
- Streak
- brownish red
- Lustre
- adamantine (diamond-like), submetallic, earthy
- Crystal system
- Isometric (cubic)
- Colours
- dark red, crimson, purplish red, nearly black
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- poor octahedral; conchoidal to uneven fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.