Images
Formula: Cu6GeWS8
Sulphide, germanium- and tungsten-
bearing mineral
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Specific gravity: 4.892 calculated
Hardness: 3½
Streak: Black
Colour: Grey
Common impurities: Ag,Fe
Environments
Igneous environments
Hydrothermal environments
Catamarcaite was approved in 2003 but to date (March 2023) it has been reported only from the type locality.
Localities
At the type locality, the Capillitas mining district, Andalgalá Department, Catamarca Province, Argentina,
catamarcaite was discovered in bornite-rich ore from old dumps near the
La Rosario vein. It is associated with bornite,
digenite, chalcocite,
covellite, sphalerite,
hübnerite, luzonite,
wittichenite, several
germanium-bearing sulphides (putzite,
omariniite, a briartite-type phase)
and quartz. Catamarcaite occurs as a thin rim lining cavities and fractures
in chalcocite–bornite ore, and as
aggregates, up to 1 mm in size, composed of anhedral to subhedral, intensely twinned grains within
digenite – chalcocite –
sphalerite ore. Catamarcaite is opaque, grey, with a metallic lustre
and a black streak
(CM 44.1481-1497).
Back to Minerals