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Formula: Cu2S
With oxidation states: Cu1+192(S2-)96 (CM 23.61-76)
Sulphide, copper-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 5.7 to 5.8
Hardness: 2½ to 3
Streak: Blackish to dark grey
Colour: Dark lead grey to blackish
Solubility: Moderately soluble in nitric acid
Common impurities: Fe
Environments:
Metamorphic environments
Hydrothermal environments
Chalcocite may occur as a primary mineral in veins with
bornite,
chalcopyrite,
enargite and pyrite,
but its principal occurrence is as a secondary, supergene mineral
in enriched zones of mesothermal (moderate temperature) and hypothermal (high temperature)
sulphide deposits. Under surface conditions the primary
copper sulphides are oxidised; the soluble sulphates so formed
move downwards, reacting with the primary minerals to
form chalcocite, enriching the ore in copper. The water
table is the lower limit of the zone of oxidation and a chalcocite shelf may form there. The formation of
chalcocite from Cu2+ is
a reduction reaction requiring the presence of some reducing agent.
2Cu2+ + HS- + 2e- → Cu2S + H+
Chalcocite has a stability range at any pH (acid or alkaline) in a relatively reducing environment.
Localities
The Two Mile and Three Mile deposits, Paddy's River, Paddys River District, Australian Capital Territory, Australia,
are skarn deposits at the contact between
granodiorite and volcanic rocks.
Chalcocite occurs both as a primary sulphide and as a
supergene mineral replacing
chalcopyrite and sphalerite
along fractures and grain boundaries. Primary chalcocite
has been found as intergrowths with bornite
(AJM 22.1.36).
At the Mount Kelly deposit, Gunpowder District, Queensland, Australia, the deposit has been mined for oxide and
supergene
copper ores, predominantly malachite,
azurite and chrysocolla. The ores
overlie primary zone mineralisation consisting of
quartz-dolomite-sulphide veins hosted
in dolomite-bearing siltstone
and graphitic
schist.
Chalcocite was found as a dull, blue-grey supergene
mineral replacing chalcopyrite in the early stages of oxidation
(AJM 22.1.19).
At the At the Mount Lyell mines, Queenstown district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia, chalcocite is
common in many of the sulphide ore deposits, sometimes disseminated with
bornite in schist, and sometimes as blocks weighing many
kilograms
(AJM 21.2.22).
At Saint-Pierre-de-Broughton, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada, chalcocite occurs in the
talc-carbonate rocks in solid sulphide veins and masses intergrown with the more common
bornite and chalcopyrite. It also
occurs in massive quartz veins and lenses, as irregular black metallic patches
in bornite and associated with
chalcopyrite
(R&M 85.6.502).
At Charcas, Charcas Municipality, San Luis Potosí, Mexico,
the primary minerals are
sphalerite, galena,
chalcopyrite, bornite,
tetrahedrite,
arsenopyrite, pyrite and
silver minerals such as jalpaite,
diaphorite and acanthite. In
the host rock, as metamorphic or alteration minerals, danburite,
datolite, hedenbergite,
epidote, chlorite,
andradite, actinolite
and wollastonite have been reported.
Quartz, calcite and
danburite crystallised during the entire life of the systems, throughout
the intrusive emplacement, metamorphism, and mineralising events. With depth, both
sphalerite and galena decrease
while chalcopyrite increases.
Secondary sulphides formed include
bornite, covellite,
digenite and chalcocite.
Native silver, native gold,
hematite and goethite were
deposited after the sulphides
(Minrec 55.6.727-728).
Massive chalcocite has been reported as widely distributed across the district, but specimens exhibiting
well formed crystals are scarce. Chalcocite generally occurs in microscopic form as a replacement of
digenite. When encountered the crystals are lustrous or dull and black,
or black with blue reflections. They have a flat hexagonal shape and may show twinning. Chalcocite crystals
reaching 1.5 cm on edge are generally of older vintages, although in 2019 five miniature-size specimens were
collected at the Rey y Reina mine
(Minrec 55.6.743).
At Tsumeb, Namibia, chalcocite was quite common, associated with
native silver
(R&M 93.6.542). Pseudomorphs of chalcocite after
galena have been found here
(KL p128).
Chalcocite was one of the most important of the sulphide ore minerals at Tsumeb, typically occurring as dark
lead-grey massive ore and very rarely as thick to tabular pseudohexagonal crystals. The finest crystals, up to 4 cm, were
found in the third oxidation zone, where they were associated with stolzite,
pink smithsonite, siderite and
scheelite
(Minrec 55.6 supplement p87).
Chalcocite from Tsumeb - Image
At the M'Passa Mine, Mindouli District, Pool Department, Republic of the Congo, chalcocite crystals occur with
associated pyrite
(Dr Marco Tam Shing Yau, The Mineralogy Society of Hong Kong Newsletter 19.8).
Chalcocite from the M'Passa Mine -
Image
At the Mariquita Mine (Sultana Mine), Usagre, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, chalcocite is usually found in
massive form, but occasionally it occurs in small vugs as groups of platy hexagonal crystals individually reaching
2 mm in size, with quartz and baryte
(MinRec 55.4.496).
Chalcocite from the Mariquita Mine -
Image
At Geevor Mine, Pendeen, St Just, Cornwall, England, UK, chalcocite has been found as rare,
pseudohexagonal prismatic crystals, rather than the more common massive material
(AESS).
Chalcocite from Geevor - Image
At the Magma mine, Pioneer District, Pinal county, Arizona, USA, chalcocite has been found on a
hematite matrix
(R&M 95.1.83-84).
Chalcocite from the Magma Mine - Image
At the Copper Falls Mine, Copper Falls, Keweenaw county, Michigan, USA, mineralisation occurs primarily in hydrothermal veins
cutting preexisting lavas and as amygdules in the Ashbed flow.
Chalcocite is very rare at the Copper Falls mine. A single significant specimen, with long, striated crystals to 2 cm, is in the
A E Seaman Mineral Museum
(MinRec 54.1.105).
At the Leonard mine, Montana, USA, chalcocite pseudomorphs after
covellite have been found
(KL p127).
Chalcocite from the Leonard Mine -
Image
At the Mufulira Mine, Mufulira, Mufulira District, Copperbelt Province, Zambia, most chalcocite occurs as
dense disseminations on bedding planes in the quartzite host rock,
but it rarely forms sizeable masses. Crystals of chalcocite, although often occurring as well-formed tabular,
pseudohexagonal prisms, are small (a few millimeters), rare, and generally found in vuggy veins with
bornite and chalcopyrite in
the eastern sections of the mine
(MinRec 55.4.456).
Chalcocite from the Mufulira Mine - Image
Alteration
Oxidation of pyrite forms ferrous (divalent) sulphate and sulphuric acid:
pyrite + oxygen + water → ferrous sulphate + sulphuric acid
FeS2 + 7O + H2O → FeSO4 + H2SO4
The ferrous (divalent) sulphate readily oxidizes to ferric (trivalent) sulphate and ferric hydroxide:
ferrous sulphate + oxygen + water → ferric sulphate + ferric hydroxide
6FeSO4 + 3O + 3H2O → 2Fe2(SO4)3 +
2Fe(OH)3
chalcocite to covellite
Ferric sulfate is a strong oxidizing agent; covellite is formed from
chalcocite by the reaction below.
chalcocite and ferric sulphate to copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate and
covellite
Cu2S + Fe2(SO4)3 → CuSO4 + 2FeSO4 + CuS
(AMU b3-3.7)
chalcocite to cuprite
If chalcocite is exposed to the oxidation zone, then conditions for the formation of
cuprite and native copper
can occur readily.
chalcocite + oxygen + water → cuprite + sulphuric acid
Cu2S(solid) + 2O2(gaseous) + H2O(liquid) → Cu2O(solid) +
H2SO4(aqueous)
(JRS 18.14)
chalcocite to native copper
chalcocite + oxygen → copper + cupric sulphate
Cu2S(solid) + 2O2(gaseous) → Cu(solid) + Cu2+SO4(aqueous)
(JRS 18.14)
chalcopyrite and chalcocite to
bornite
CuFe3+S2 + 2Cu2S = Cu5FeS4
pyrite to chalcocite
Because chalcocite is less soluble than
pyrite, supergene
chalcocite may form below
the zone of oxidation when dissolved copper ions Cu2+ replace ferrous ions Fe2+ from
pyrite.
Cu2+ + pyrite + H2O to chalcocite + Fe2+
+ (SO4)2-
+ H+
14Cu2+ + 5FeS2 + 12H2O → 7Cu2S + 5Fe2+ +
3(SO4)2- +24H+
(KB p527)
skinnerite to chalcocite,
antimony and sulphur
2Cu3SbS3 → 3Cu2S + 2Sb + 3/2S2
(CM 28.725-738)
skinnerite and sphalerite =
Zn-tetrahedrite and chalcocite
4Cu3SbS3 + 2ZnS → Cu10Zn2Sb4S13 + Cu2S
(CM 28.725-738)
Zn-tetrahedrite to chalcocite,
antimony, sphalerite and
sulphur
Cu10Zn2Sb4S13 → 5Cu2S + 4Sb + 2ZnS + 3S2
(CM 28.725-738)
The diagram below is a Pourbaix diagram for Cu-Fe-S-H2O
(IJNM 07(02).9.23).
It shows the relationship between copper Cu,
chalcopyrite CuFeS2,
tenorite CuO,
covellite CuS,
cuprite Cu2O,
chalcocite Cu2S,
pyrite FeS2 and
hematite Fe2O3.
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