The first time that I knew of this mineral I made an impression. About my initial ignorance within the mineralogism it thought that it was almost impossible to find between typical andesites, Chilean granites and basalts some aesthetically beautiful mineral… until I acquired a rock piece of special beauty…

The atacamite is a mineral of the group of the Halogenures. Chemically he is hidroxiclorure of copper of very characteristic a green color. It has a polymorph one in the botallackite, mineral of equal chemical formula but that crystallizes in the monoclinic system. One was for the first time in the Desert of Atacama, to the north of Chile, reason by which D. of Gallizen put east name to him in 1801. The atacamite is a rare mineral, because the conditions of formation are very particular, forms from other primary copper minerals - sulfides by oxidation generally slide of it superficial in a desert barren climate. Also it is possible to be formed by sublimation in the volcanic exhalations. Are great formed crystals good in Wallaroo (Australia). In III the Region of Atacama usually one is in the form of great aggregates, aside from being frequent in many other parts of the world. In Italy is associate to lava of the Vesubio.

He could operate itself as copper ore, but not even in Chile forms great deposits sufficiently like to be profitable its mining operation. By its enormous one absorptive power, was operated commercially in the antiquity like dust to dry the red with which it was written to pen, so it was concerned from Chile.

This it is a unit of my collection, from La Serena, Chile

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