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Formula: Cu5(AsO4)2(OH)4
Anhydrous arsenate containing hydroxyl, monoclinic
paramorph of triclinic
cornubite,forms a series with
pseudomalachite
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 4.17 measured, 4.64 calculated
Hardness: 4½
Streak: Apple green
Colour: Verdigis green, blackish-green, emerald-green; emerald-green in transmitted light.
Solubility: Decomposed in oils containing As2S3. Soluble in nitric acid (Dana)
Common impurities: P
Environments:
Cornwallite is a rare secondary mineral formed by the
oxidation of ore containing both
copper and arsenic, such as
tennantite.
Localities
At the Kintore opencut, Broken Hill South Mine, Broken Hill, Broken Hill district, Yancowinna county, New South
Wales, Australia, two specimens of cornwallite have been reported.
One occurs on globular conichalcite, and the other shows all the
stages of replacement by globular chrysocolla
(AJM 03.1.58).
At the Telfer Mine, Rudall River District, East Pilbara Shire, Western Australia, cornwallite is associated
with
chalcocite, chrysocolla,
agardite,
malachite and cornubite
(AJM 12.1.36-37)
At the type locality, Wheal Carpenter, Fraddam, Gwinear-Gwithian, Cornwall, England, UK, cornwallite occurs
in copper bearing
sulphide veins
(Mindat) associated with olivenite,
cornubite, arthurite,
clinoclase,
chalcophyllite, strashimirite,
lavendulan,
tyrolite, spangolite,
austinite, conichalcite,
brochantite, azurite and
malachite
(HOM).
Cornwallite from Wheal Carpenter - Image
At Short Grain, Deer Hills, Caldbeck, Allerdale, Cumbria, England, UK, cornwallite occurs with
chrysocolla and occasionally with
supergene
baryte in
cavities in quartz or coating the exterior of
blocks of altered veinstone
(JRS.12.53)
At the San Rafael Mine, Quartz Mountain camp, Lodi Mining District, Lodi Hills, Nye County, Nevada, USA,
cornwallite has been found with
olivenite and mimetite
(R&M 85.6.517).
Cornwallite from the San Rafael Mine -
Image
At the Tintic Mining District, Juab County, Utah, USA, cornwallite is somewhat common throughout the copper
zones in the district, but not usually found in abundance. It occurs typically as dark green botryoidal crusts. At
both the Mammoth and Centennial Eureka mines it has been found as single crystals less than 1 mm in size. The
better-known specimens are dark green spheres and glassy botryoidal coatings to several square centimeters on
oxidised matrix of quartz or of
goethite. It has been claimed that cornwallite appears to have been
one of the later-formed minerals
(MinRec 55.2.197).
Cornwallite from the Tintic Mining District -
Image
Stability
The Activity-pH diagram below was calculated at 298.2 K for the main
Cu2+ and Pb2+ arsenate minerals.
Boundaries are calculated for constant activities (roughly equivalent to concentrations) of Pb2+ and Cl-
ions in solution, over a range of values of pH and of Cu2+ activity. Higher chloride activites make the stability
fields of bayldonite and duftite vanish,
with respect to the encroachment of that of mimetite
(LMW p269).
The arsenate mineral formulae are:
philipsbornite PbAl3(AsO4)(AsO3OH)(OH)6
mimetite Pb5(AsO4)3Cl
duftite PbCu(AsO4)(OH)
bayldonite Cu3PbO(AsO3OH)2(OH)2
olivenite Cu2(AsO4)(OH)
cornwallite Cu5(AsO4)2(OH)4
clinoclase Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3
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