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Stone : Chrysocolla

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Chyrsocolla is a hydrous silicate of copper, occurring massive, of a blue or greenish blue color and is more appropriately a mineraloid than a true mineral. Most of the time it is amorphous meaning that it does not have a coherent crystalline structure.

Chrysocolla forms in the oxidation zones of copper rich ore bodies. Pure chrysocolla is soft and fragile and cannot be used for making jewelry. Druzy Chrysocolla is a rock composed of agatized chysocolla with a crust of small sparkling quartz crystals in small cavities. Chrysocolla can also have a turquoise color and can substitute the more precious stone.

It is available in green-blue color with a luster that is earthy to dull or vitreous and waxy. With a variable hardness of 2 to 4, Chrysocolla is found in regions of: Arizona in Utah, New Mexico and Pennsylvania in USA, Isreal, Zaire and England.