ROSASITE

    Class : Carbonates, nitrates, borates
    Subclass : Anhydrous carbonates
    Crystal system : Monoclinic
    Chemistry : (Zn,Cu)2(CO3)(OH)2
    Rarity : Uncommon

Rosasite is a secondary mineral of the surface oxidation zone of copper and zinc deposits. It accompanies oxidized minerals of zinc (hydrozincite) or copper (malachite, aurichalcite, more rarely brochantite and hemimorphite). It owes its name to its place of discovery : the Rosas mine in Italy. Rosasite is greenish blue to sky blue in color, with a silky luster, it occurs in small fibrous spherulites forming mammillary incrustations, rarely in pseudomorph after azurite.

Main photo : Rosasite from Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico © Rob Lavinsky

Rosasite from Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico © Jordy Fabre
Rosasite pseudomorph after azurite from Tsumeb, Namibia © Rob Lavinsky
Rosasite from la Sanguinède, St-Laurent-le-Minier, Gard, France © Pascal Chollet
Rosasite from Bréziés, Asprières, Aveyron, France © Serge Lavarde

Rosasite in the World

It is a rare mineral whose best samples come from the Ojuela mine (Mapimi, Durango, Mexico), where the spherulitic aggregates, barely centimeters in size, cover large areas. The Tsumeb mine (Namibia) once provided rare but magnificent rosasite in pseudomorphs of azurite. Rosasite is also abundant in the oxidized parts of American copper mines, notably in Arizona (Bisbee, Hayden, Gleeson, etc...).

Rosasite in France

In France, rosasite is known in Vizille (Isère), Steinbach (Haut-Rhin), Chessy (Rhône), Cap Garonne (Var), St-Laurent-le-Minier (Gard), Peyrebrune (Tarn), Asprières (Aveyron) and in many other deposits.

Twinning

Twinning is known on {100}, but not visible to the naked eye.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4.5
Density : 4.0 to 4.2
Fracture : Undetermined
Streak : Light blue

TP : Translucent to opaque
RI : 1.672 to 1.831
Birefringence : 0.139 to 0.143
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : Strong
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Acids

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : None

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