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Malachite

Carbonate Minerals

Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous or stalagmitic masses in fractures and deep underground spaces, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation. Individual crystals are rare, but occur as slender to acicular prisms. The name derives, via Latin and Middle French, from the Greek for mallow-green stone, because the mineral resembles the leaves of the mallow plant. In this atlas it is the mineral species that the gemstone malachite records.

Facts
Classification
Crystal System
Monoclinic 1
Classification
Carbonate Mineral 1
Use
Sculpture and Ornamental 2
Use
Gemstone 2
Kind
Mineral 1
Chemical Formula
Cu2CO3(OH)2 1
Hardness (Mohs)
3.75 1
Commonly cited range is 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale; 3.75, the midpoint, is used here.
Connections

Classified As

Entity-backed identity for the material classification this material already carries as an enum fact, pointing at the class subcategory of the same name. The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.

Crystallizes In System

Entity-backed identity for the crystal system this mineral already carries as an enum fact, phase 3 bucket conversion (docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md, w-bucketconv-divmore2-0929). The original fact stays on the entry unchanged.

In Discipline

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Malachite (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Malachite, lead paragraph
    is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2
  • Malachite, article text
    This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system
View the Source
2. Malachite (Wikipedia)
  • Article body
    Since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.
  • Article body, sculpture-and-ornamental
    Since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.
  • Article body, gemstone
    Since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.
View the Source
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