DJURLEITE

    Class : Sulfides and sulfosalts
    Subclass : Sulfides
    Crystal system : Monoclinic
    Chemistry : Cu31S16
    Rarity : Rare

Digenite is a relatively rare secondary copper sulfide. It comes from the alteration of chalcocite, chalcopyrite and bornite, and very often accompanies covellite and digenite in the oxidation and cemantation zones of copper deposits. It was named in honor of the Swedish chemist Seved Djurle who synthesized the compound before its discovery in its natural state. Djurleite is mostly massive, rarely in centimeter-sized crystals forming chunky prisms or thick black tablets.

Main photo : Djurleite from Aït Ahmane, Tansifte Caïdat, Agdz Cercle, Zagora Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco © Rob Lavinsky

4 cm djurleite from Aït Ahmane, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco © Rob Lavinsky
Djurleite from Aït Ahmane, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco © Jordi Fabre
Djurleite from the Clara Mine, Germany © Volker Heck
Djurleite from San Benito, California, USA © Antonio Zordan

Djurleite in the World

Djurleite usually shares the deposits of digenite to which it is chemically very close. It is also found in Tsumeb (Namibia), Globe, Bisbee and Magma (Arizona), and Butte (Montana). Beautiful specimens come from the polymetallic veins of Cornwall (Saint-Just) and Cumbria (Seathwaite Tarn, near Coniston) in England. However, djurleite is known in other copper deposits, notably in Japan (Ani and Osarizawa, in Honshû), in Morococha (Peru) as well as in Aït Ahmane (Morocco) which provided the best crystals in the world discovered in 2016 (up to 4 cm). Finally, it is present in microcrystals, associated with neptunite and benitoite in San Benito (California).

Djurleite in France

In France, djurléite is reported at Echassières (Allier), at Davignac (Corrèze), at Cap Garonne (Var) as well as at Mine Roua near Daluis (Alpes-Maritimes).

Twinning

A twin is common on {110}.

Fakes and treatments

No fake listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 2.5 to 3
Density : 5.74
Fracture : Irregular to sub-conchoidal
Streak : Black

TP : Opaque
RI : -
Birefringence : -
Optical character : -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Nitric acid


Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None

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