a = 4.47 Å, b = 5.75 Å, c = 17.05 Å; β = 91.06°; Z = 2
Identification
Formula mass
575.7 g/mol
Color
Dark emerald green to blackish green
Crystal habit
Crystals, which are rare, are prismatic, usually with uneven faces. Pseudomalachite is commonly compact, reniform or botryoidal, or it may be fibrous or in crusts and films.
Twinning
On {100}
Cleavage
Perfect on {100}, distinct on {010}
Fracture
Splintery or conchoidal
Mohs scale hardness
4.5–5
Luster
Vitreous
Streak
Blue green, paler than the mineral
Diaphaneity
Translucent to subtranslucent
Specific gravity
(Measured) 4.15 to 4.35
Optical properties
Biaxial (−)
Refractive index
nα = 1.791 nβ = 1.856 nγ = 1.867
Birefringence
δ = 0.076
Pleochroism
Weak; X = bluish green to pale green; Y = yellowish green; Z = deep bluish green to blue-green
2V angle
48°
Dispersion
Strong r<v. Also biaxial (+) r>v
Solubility
Soluble in acids but without effervescence (in contrast to malachite which effervesces with warm HCl)
Other characteristics
Not fluorescent, not radioactive
References
[2][3][4][5]
Pseudomalachite is a phosphate of copper with hydroxyl, named from the Greek for "false" and "malachite", because of its similarity in appearance to the carbonate mineral malachite, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2. Both are green coloured secondary minerals found in oxidised zones of copper deposits, often associated with each other. Pseudomalachite is polymorphous with reichenbachite and ludjibaite. It was discovered in 1813.
Prior to 1950 it was thought that dihydrite, lunnite, ehlite, tagilite and prasin were separate mineral species, but Berry analysed specimens labelled with these names from several museums, and found that they were in fact pseudomalachite. The old names are no longer recognised by the IMA.[6]
Pseudomalachite is a phosphate of copper with hydroxyl, named from the Greek for "false" and "malachite", because of its similarity in appearance to the...
secondary copper minerals, including malachite, azurite, turquoise, pseudomalachite, and chrysocolla. Eilat stone is the national stone of Israel, and...
found here include azurite, baryte, malachite, metatorbernite, and pseudomalachite. Nearby travel links are: Leuchars railway station, 1.6 miles (2.6 km)...
with formula Cu5(AsO4)2(OH)4. It forms a series with the phosphate pseudomalachite and is a dimorph of the triclinic cornubite. It is a green monoclinic...
in some hydrothermal copper deposits. Unlike related phases such as pseudomalachite, the copper atoms are all five-fold coordinated by oxygen. There are...
a hydrated basic copper aluminium phosphate, CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O Pseudomalachite, a basic copper phosphate similar in appearance to malachite Ludjibaite...
Cornwall. It is a dimorph of cornwallite, and the arsenic analogue of pseudomalachite. Cleavage is distinct in two directions, both perpendicular to the...
brochantite, cornwallite, duftite, malachite, mimetite, philipsburgite and pseudomalachite as well as mottramite occur in thin fractures in quartz at Low Pike...
Basilica, Venice and in two different Mayan paintings. Along with pseudomalachite, chalconatronite was found on an illuminated manuscript from the sixteenth...
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