Home > Mexico I – December 15 > MS1694 Shattuckite

Shattuckite - Sold


Shattuckite is a hydrous copper silicate. Schaller (1915) named the mineral for its type locality: Shattuck mine, Bisbee, Arizona; further details appeared in Appendix III to Dana's System of Mineralogy. From 1918 through 1961, mineralogists debated the possible identity of shattuckite and plancheite, despite their different optical, chemical, and X-ray diffraction data. Mrose & Evans (1966) and Le Bihan (1967) independently solved the shattuckite crystal structure, both works clearly distinguishing it from plancheite. Evans & Mrose (1977) thoroughly compared the crystal structures of shattuckite and plancheite. The relationship of shattuckite to plancheite is like that of pyroxene to amphibole.

This specimen consists of radiating spheres of shattuckite to 4 mm grown together in a grape-like aggregate. This material came out in late 2019. Another blue-green copper silicate is also present, but it is amorphous.