Calaverite

Cripple Creek District, Teller Co., Colorado, USA
© Knut Eldjarn

Show Calaverite Photos (26)

Formula:

AuTe

System:

Monoclinic

Colour:

Grass yellow to silver ...

Hardness:

2½ - 3

Name:

From the occurrence at the Stanislaus Mine, in Calaveras County, California.

This page provides mineralogical data about Calaverite.

Classification of Calaverite

IMA status:

Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"

Strunz 8th edition ID:

2/D.16-40

Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:

2.EA.10

2 : SULFIDES and SULFOSALTS (sulfides, selenides, tellurides; arsenides, antimonides, bismuthides; sulfarsenites, sulfantimonites, sulfbismuthites, etc.)
E : Metal Sulfides, M: S <= 1:2
A : M:S = 1:2 - With Cu, Ag, Au

Dana 8th edition ID:

2.12.13.2

2 : SULFIDES
12 : A_mB_nX_p, with (m+n):p = 1:2

Hey's CIM Ref.:

3.3.1

3 : Sulphides, Selenides, Tellurides, Arsenides and Bismuthides (except the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au, which are included in Section 1)
3 : Sulphides etc. of Au

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Please feel free to link to this page.

Type Occurrence of Calaverite

Type Locality:

Stanislaus Mine, Carson Hill, Angels Camp, Calaveras Co., California, USA

Year of Discovery:

1861

Occurrences of Calaverite

Geological Setting:

Low temperature hydrothermal veins.

Physical Properties of Calaverite

Lustre:

Metallic

Diaphaneity (Transparency):

Opaque

Colour:

Grass yellow to silver white

Streak:

Greenish to yellowish gray

Hardness (Mohs):

2½ - 3

Hardness (Vickers):

VHN₁₀₀=197 - 213 kg/mm²

Tenacity:

Brittle

Fracture:

Irregular/Uneven, Sub-Conchoidal

Density (measured):

9.1 - 9.4 g/cm³

Density (calculated):

9.31 g/cm³

Crystallography of Calaverite

Crystal System:

Monoclinic

Cell Parameters:

a = 7.19Å, b = 4.4Å, c = 5.08Å
β = 90.3°

Ratio:

a:b:c = 1.634 : 1 : 1.155

Unit Cell Volume:

V 160.71 Å³ (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Morphology:

Bladed and short to slender prisms.

Twinning:

Commonly on {110}
less frequently on {031}{111}

Optical Data of Calaverite

Type:

Anisotropic

Anisotropism:

Weak

Colour in reflected light:

White

Pleochroism:

Weak

Chemical Properties of Calaverite

Formula:

AuTe

Essential elements:

Au, Te

All elements listed in formula:

Au, Te

Common Impurities:

Relationship of Calaverite to other Species

2.EA.05

Sylvanite

(Au,Ag)

2.EA.15

Kostovite

CuAuTe

2.EA.15

Krennerite

(Au,Ag)Te

2.EA.20

Berndtite

SnS

2.EA.20

Kitkaite

NiTeSe

2.EA.20

Melonite

NiTe

2.EA.20

Merenskyite

(Pd,Pt)(Te,Bi)

2.EA.20

Moncheite

(Pt,Pd)(Te,Bi)

2.EA.20

Shuangfengite

IrTe

2.EA.20

Sudovikovite

PtSe

2.EA.25

Verbeekite

PdSe

2.EA.30

Drysdallite

Mo(Se,S)

2.EA.30

Jordisite

MoS

2.EA.30

Molybdenite

MoS

2.EA.30

Tungstenite

3.3.2

Krennerite

(Au,Ag)Te

3.3.3

Kostovite

CuAuTe

3.3.4

Uytenbogaardtite

AuS

3.3.5

Fischesserite

AuSe

3.3.6

Petrovskaite

AuAg(S,Se)

3.3.7

Petzite

AuTe

3.3.8

Muthmannite

AuAgTe

3.3.9

Sylvanite

(Au,Ag)

3.3.10

Penzhinite

(Ag,Cu)

Au(S,Se)

3.3.11

Bezsmertnovite

(Au,Ag)

Cu(Te,Pb)

3.3.12

Bilibinskite

PbCuAu

3.3.13

Bogdanovite

(Au,Te,Pb)

(Cu,Fe)

3.3.14

Montbrayite

(Au,Sb)

Other Names for Calaverite

Other Languages:

German:	Calaverit
Russian:	Калаверит
Spanish:	Calaverita

Other Information

Health Warning:

No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

Industrial Uses:

Gold ore

References for Calaverite

Reference List:

Penfield, Samuel Lewis & William Ebenezer Ford (1902), Über den Calaverit: Zeitschr. Kristallographie, Band 35: 430-451.

Smith, George Frederick Herbert (1903), Ueber das bemerkenswerthe Problem der Entwickelung der Kristallformer der Calaverit: Zeitschr. Kristallographie, Band 37: 209-234.

Zeitschrift für Kristallographie: 169: 227-236.

Goldschmidt, Victor, C. Palache & M.A. Peacock (1931), Über Calaverit: Neues Jahrb. F. Min. etc. B.B. 63, Abt. A.: 1-58.

Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged: 335-338.