Mixite
Mineral BiCu6(AsO4)3(OH)6·3H2O
Take care.
- Contains arsenic: Wash your hands after handling it, don't make dust, and never heat it.
About it
Hair-thin emerald to blue-green needles in tufts and sprays from oxidized copper ore with bismuth and arsenic. Named for Bohemian mining official Anton Mixa; first found at Jáchymov.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Arsenate, mixite group
- Formula
- BiCu6(AsO4)3(OH)6·3H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 3–4
- Specific gravity
- 3.79–3.83
- Streak
- pale green
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy), silky
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Colours
- emerald green, blue-green, bluish green
- Transparency
- translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- none; fine needles
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.