Selected Minerals – Today: Azurite

Azurite

• named after the color azure, a variation of blue that is often
  described as the color of the sky
• one of the two basic copper(II) carbonate minerals, the other being malachite
• Formula: Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂
• Space group: P2₁/c (No. 14)
• Crystal system: monoclinic
• Crystal class: 2/m
• Lattice parameters: a = 5.01 Å, b = 5.58 Å, c = 10.35 Å, α = 90°, β = 92.4°, γ = 90°

---

Picture: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC BY-SA 3.0

---

Crystal structure (click on the picture to download the VESTA file):

CO₃ triangles (black), CuO₅ tetragonal pyramids (yellow)

Advertisement