Rocksday

Chrysocolla

A blue-green hydrated copper silicate that forms crusts and fillings where copper deposits weather.

Chrysocolla specimen
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify chrysocolla

  • Vivid blue to blue-green, often mixed with malachite or quartz.
  • Soft and light; may stick slightly to the tongue.
  • No crystals — crusts, veins and botryoidal masses.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Arizona
  • Peru
  • Chile
  • Katanga, DR Congo

Uses

Ornamental stone; silicified chrysocolla is cut as a gem.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling. Usually too soft unless it's quartz-hardened.

Did you know?

The name is Greek for 'gold glue' — an old word for materials used to solder gold.

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