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Bornite on Quartz - Sold


Bornite is an iron copper sulfide. While a common constituent of copper ores, bornite is rarely found in crystals. Bornite has a metallic red-brown color when fresh, which often alters to an iridescent blue-purple to flat black color. Haidinger (1845) named the mineral after Ignaz Edler von Born (1742-1791), an Austrian mineralogist.

This is a specimen of crystallized quartz hosting a few bornite crystals. The bornite here forms rather sharp dodecahedra, the largest reaching 8 mm across. This is a particularly nice miniature for the locality, with excellent contrast. From the collection of Robert Chambers, of Tucson, Arizona.