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Calaverite

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

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Formula:
AuTe
 
2
System:MonoclinicColour:Grass yellow to silver ...
Hardness:2½ - 3
Name:From the occurrence at the Stanislaus Mine, in Calaveras County, California.
Dimorph of:Krennerite
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 : AmBnXp, 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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Type Occurrence of Calaverite

Type Locality:Stanislaus Mine, Carson Hill, Carson Hill District, Mother Lode Belt, 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 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:4
Morphology:Bladed and short to slender prisms.
Twinning:Commonly on {110}, less frequently on {031} and {111}.
Comment:Space group C2/m or C2. Incommensurately modulated structure.
X-Ray Powder Diffraction:
d-spacingIntensity
3.02 (10)
2.93 (3)
2.20 (4)
2.09 (8)
1.758 (3)
1.689 (3)
1.506 (3)
Comments:Similar to the data for muthmannite.

Optical Data of Calaverite

Type:Anisotropic
Anisotropism:Weak
Colour in reflected light:White
Pleochroism:Weak

Chemical Properties of Calaverite

Formula:
AuTe
 
2
Essential elements:Au, Te
All elements listed in formula:Au, Te
Common Impurities:Ag

Relationship of Calaverite to other Species

Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping):

- +
2.EA.05Sylvanite
(Au,Ag)
 
2
Te
 
4
2.EA.15Kostovite
CuAuTe
 
4
2.EA.15Krennerite
(Au,Ag)Te
 
2
2.EA.20Berndtite
SnS
 
2
2.EA.20Kitkaite
NiTeSe
2.EA.20Melonite
NiTe
 
2
2.EA.20Merenskyite
(Pd,Pt)(Te,Bi)
 
2
2.EA.20Moncheite
(Pt,Pd)(Te,Bi)
 
2
2.EA.20Shuangfengite
IrTe
 
2
2.EA.20Sudovikovite
PtSe
 
2
2.EA.25Verbeekite
PdSe
 
2
2.EA.30Drysdallite
Mo(Se,S)
 
2
2.EA.30Jordisite
MoS
 
2
2.EA.30Molybdenite
MoS
 
2
2.EA.30Tungstenite
WS
 
2
Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:

- +
3.3.2Krennerite
(Au,Ag)Te
 
2
3.3.3Kostovite
CuAuTe
 
4
3.3.4Uytenbogaardtite
Ag
 
3
AuS
 
2
3.3.5Fischesserite
Ag
 
3
AuSe
 
2
3.3.6Petrovskaite
AuAg(S,Se)
3.3.7Petzite
Ag
 
3
AuTe
 
2
3.3.8Muthmannite
AuAgTe
 
2
3.3.9Sylvanite
(Au,Ag)
 
2
Te
 
4
3.3.10Penzhinite
(Ag,Cu)
 
4
Au(S,Se)
 
4
3.3.11Bezsmertnovite
(Au,Ag)
 
4
Cu(Te,Pb)
3.3.12Bilibinskite
PbCu
 
2
Au
 
3
Te
 
2
3.3.13Bogdanovite
(Au,Te,Pb)
 
3
(Cu,Fe)
3.3.14Montbrayite
(Au,Sb)
 
2
Te
 
3

Other Names for Calaverite

Other Languages:
German:Calaverit
Japanese:カラヴェラス鉱
Russian:Калаверит
Simplified Chinese:碲金矿
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.

Schutte, W.J. and J.L. de Boer (1988): Valence fluctuations in the incommensurately modulated structure of calaverite AuTe2. Acta Cryst., 44, 486–494.

Reithmayer, K., Steurer, W., Schulz, H., de Boer, J. L. (1993): High-pressure single-crystal structure study on calaverite, AuTe2. Acta Crystallographica, B49, 6-11.

Internet Links for Calaverite

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