Calaverite
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Calaverite or gold telluride is an uncommon telluride of gold; it is a metallic mineral. It was first discovered in Calaveras County, California in 1861. Its chemical formula is AuTe2. Its color may range from a silvery white to a brassy yellow. It is closely related to the gold - silver telluride: sylvanite. Another mineral containing AuTe2 is krennerite.
Calaverite occurs as monoclinic crystals, which do not possess cleavage planes. It has a specific gravity of 9.35 and a hardness of 2.5.
Calaverite can be dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid. In hot sulfuric acid the mineral dissolves leaving a spongy mass of gold in a red solution of tellurium.
Calaverite occurrences include Cripple Creek, Colorado and Calaveras County (from where it gets its name), California, USA; Nagyag, Romania; Kirkland Lake Gold District, Ontario and Rouyn District, Quebec, Canada and Kalgoorlie, Australia.
See also
References
- Chizhikov, D. M. and V. P. Shchastlivyi, 1966, Tellurium and Tellurides, Nauka Publishing, Moscow
- Klein, Cornelis and Hurlbut, Cornelius S., 1985, Manual of Mineralogy 20th ed., p. 289, Wiley, ISBN 0471805807
External links
- Mineral Galleries (http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/sulfides/calaveri/calaveri.htm)
- Webmineral (http://webmineral.com/data/Calaverite.shtml)
- Mindat locations (http://www.mindat.org/min-852.html)Template:Mineral-stub