MURDOCHITE

    Class : Oxides and hydroxides
    Subclass : Oxides
    Crystal system : Cubic
    Chemistry : Cu6PbO8
    Rarity : Rare

Murdochite is a complex oxide admitting chlorine and bromine ions into its structure. It forms in the oxidation zone of lead and copper deposits. It therefore naturally associates with secondary minerals of these two metals but also with zinc oxides (willemite). It was named in honor of Joseph Murdoch, Professor of Mineralogy at the University of California. It is a black mineral which forms small octahedral or cubic crystals of 2 mm at most.

Main photo : Murdochite from Dos Adrianas Mine, Atacama, Chile © Elmar Lackner

Murdochite in the World

Small but stunning murdochite crystals are known from white barite at the Blanchard mine near Bingham, New Mexico. This mineral is also present in several copper deposits in Arizona, notably at Mammoth-St-Anthony in encrustations on wulfenite and fluorite crystals. Murdochite is also reported in good samples at the Naïca mine (Chihuahua, Mexico) as well as in other Mexican, Chile an and Iranian localities.

Right photo : Murdochite from Blanchard Mine, Bingham, New Mexico, USA © Michael C. Michayluk


Murdochite in France

In France, mullite is reported at Mont Denise near Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire).

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes recorded for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4
Density : 5.9 to 6.7
Fracture : Undetermined
Streak : Black

TP : Opaque
RI : -
Birefringence : 0
Optical character : None
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : -

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None