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Formula: Cu(SO4).3H2O
Hydrated sulphate of copper
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 2.663 measured on synthetic material, 2.68 calculated
Colour: Pale blue, colourless in transmitted light
Solubility: Soluble in water
Environments
Bonattite may occur as a dehydration product of chalcanthite.
Localities
At the Maggie claim group, Kamloops Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada, bonattite has been found as
part of a fist-sized mineral sample. Most of the specimen consists of a fine, powdery salmon-coloured
monohydrate sulphate (later named poitevinite) which is surrounded by
a thin cohesive outer crust of an olive-coloured iron arsenate
admixed with quartz. The core of the specimen is somewhat vuggy and filled
with the salmon-coloured sulphate and
pale blue bonattite, both in vermiform (worm-like) units one to two millimetres in length. Each
bonattite unit consists of an
aggregate of microcrystalline particles
(CM 7.2.245-252).
Associated minerals include quartz,
gypsum, pyrite,
poitevinite and scorodite
(HOM).
Bonattite from Maggie Claim Group -
Image
At the type locality, Macei stope, Cape Calamita Mine, Capoliveri, Livorno Province, Tuscany, Italy,
bonattite occurs as a secondary mineral in the
pyrite deposit, associated with
chalcanthite and pyrite
(HOM).
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