Chalcopyrite

- align=center bgcolor="#9966FF"	Chalcopyrite		- align=center	- align=center bgcolor="#9966FF"	General		-	Category	Mineral	-	Chemical formula	copper iron sulfide:CuFeS₂	- align="center" bgcolor="#9966FF"	Identification		-	Color	Brass yellow, may have iridescent purplish tarnish.	-	Crystal habit	predominantly the disphenoid and resembles a tetrahedron. Crystals sometines twinned. Also commonly massive, and sometimes botryoidal.	-	Crystal system	tetragonal bar 4 2m	-	Cleavage	^* Indistinct	-	Fracture	conchoidal and brittle	-	Mohs Scale hardness	3.5	-	Luster	metallic	-	Refractive index	opaque	-	Pleochroism	N/A	-	Streak	dark green	-	Specific gravity	4.1 - 4.3	-	Fusibility	2	-	Solubility	?	-	Other Characteristics	magnetic on heating	- align="center" bgcolor="#9966FF"	Major varieties		-		-

Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS₂. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Due to its color and high copper content, chalcopyrite has often been referred to as "yellow copper".

Chalcopyrite is often confused with pyrite, although the latter has a cubic and not a tetragonal crystal system. Further, chalcopyrite is more often massive and less brittle. Chalcopyrite is also a darker yellow in color.

Chalcopyrite is one of the most important copper ores. Chalcopyrite ore occurs in a variety of ore types, from huge masses as at Timmins, Ontario, to irregular veins and disseminations associated with granitic to dioritic intrusives as in the porphyry copper deposits of Broken Hill, the American cordillera and the Andes.

References

Dana's Manual of Mineralogy ISBN 0471032883
mindat.org
Webmineral.com
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References