Image: <bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q126871368" class="extiw" title="d:Q126871368"><span title="photographer from the United States">Darla Sondrol</span></a></bdi> (CC0)
orthorhombiccommonSulfides
Bornite
Cu₅FeS₄
This sample, about 7 cm across, contains primarily bornite. Bornite is typically brown or black when fresh, but it easily tarnishes to iridescent purply blue colors, earning it the nickname 'peacock ore'.
Bornite Physical Properties
Mohs Hardness
3Crystal System
orthorhombicLuster
metallicStreak Color
grayish-blackCleavage
poor/indistinctFracture
conchoidal to unevenSpecific Gravity
4.9Colors
brown, black, purple, blueTransparency
opaqueType Locality
TasmaniaMineral Group
SulfidesUses
copper ore, collector's itemAssociated Minerals
quartzRarity
commonGeological Context
Bornite is a common copper-bearing mineral that forms in hydrothermal veins, contact metamorphic deposits, and disseminated in mafic igneous rocks. It is an important ore mineral for copper.
