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www.mineralgallery.co.za Minerals A-E |
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Enargite |
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Name
Enargite
Chemistry
Cu3AsS4 Often contain some iron and antimony.
Uses
Cu ore. Copper ore.
Color
Steel-grey, grey-black, black, with a fine violet tint
Hardness
3.5 (brittle)
Specific gravity
4.4
Crystal system
Orthorhombic. Crystal form - plates, prisms with twinning and multiple twinning
Accompanied by:
Chalcopyrite, Luzonite, Bornite, pyrite
Fracture
Uneven
Luster
Metallic to dull
Cleavage
Good on(110), Imperfect on (100), and on (010)
Streak
Black
Similar to:
Marmatite, Luzonite, Wolframite
Enargite is a low to medium temperature mineral from hydrothermal veins usually associated with other sulphides and quartz.
Occasionally forms star-shaped trillings.
Enargite at Tsumeb
Enargite crystals were relatively abundant from the upper levels down to level 6.
These formed up to 8 cm long steel- grey prisms. The deeper the oxidation zone, the higher was the degree of alteration of the enargite into tennantite. This was particularly common on the 16 th level where many groups of tennantite after enargite psuedomorphs have been found.
Rock
