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MELACONITE

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 87 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MELACONITE , a See also:

mineral consisting of cupric See also:oxide, CuO, and known also as See also:black See also:copper ore. In See also:appearance it is strikingly different from See also:cuprite (q.v.) or red copper ore, which is cuprous oxide. Crystals are rare; they belong to the mono-clinic, or possibly to the anorthic See also:system, and have the See also:form of thin triangular or hexagonal scales with a See also:steel-See also:grey See also:colour and brilliant metallic lustre. More often the mineral is massive, earthy or pulverulent, and has a dull See also:iron-black colour. Hence the name melaconite, from the See also:Greek µEras, black and rthvis, dust, which was originally given by F. S. See also:Beudant in 1832 in the form melaconise. The crystallized Vesuvian mineral was later named tenorite, a name commonly adopted for the See also:species. The hardness of the crystals is 3-4, but the earthy and powdery forms readily See also:soil the fingers; the spec. See also:gray. is 5.9. Crystals have been found only at Mt See also:Vesuvius, where they encrust See also:lava, and in See also:Cornwall. The other forms of the mineral, however, are See also:common in copper mines, and have resulted by the alteration`' of chalcocite, chalcopyrite and other copper ores, on which they often form a superficial coating. (L.

J.

End of Article: MELACONITE

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