Libethenite Mineral

Hey dear hive community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you have a good start to the new weekend! Here I would like to present you a new mineral and hope you can learn something new.

This mineral, which can be seen in my pictures, is called Libethenite and it belongs to the mineral class of phosphates, arsenates and vanadates. It is a rare copper mineral which is usually produced as a secondary mineral in copper-containing deposits by oxidation and I find it particularly interesting to go into more detail about a new copper mineral, as I also recently visited a copper museum. The mineral was named in 1823 by the German mineralogist August Breithaupt (1791 - 1873) who first found the mineral in Slovakia and it was named after the place of discovery.

The color can vary from green to black and Libethenite can be found worldwide and the most important places of discovery include Australia, England, Belgium, USA, Mexico as well as Russia and Japan. The crystal shape is usually transparent and the surface of the crystals looks slightly waxy. By the way, Libethenite can also be produced synthetically if you mix copper phosphate with water and heat it. As jewelry, it is rarely processed and this rare mineral remains special in collectors circles.

Many thanks for stopping by and watching! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!