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Bornite Facts

Bornite Facts
Found in hydrothermal veins, contact metamorphic rocks, and in the enriched zone of sulfide copper deposits is Bornite, which is often referred to as Peacock Ore. It is a copper iron sulfide mineral, a common ore of copper. It is easily recognized in iridescent shades of blue, purple, green and yellow on a tarnished surface. On a fresh surface it can appear as brownish bronze. Bornite is often mined as an ore of copper due its chemical composition of copper iron sulfide. Its streak results in grayish black, has a metallic luster, poor cleavage, Mohs Hardness scale score of 3.0 to 3.5, and a specific gravity between 5.0 and 5.1. Its crystal system is tetragonal.
Interesting Bornite Facts:
"Peacock Ore" sold to tourists and mineral collectors is often labeled as a variety of bornite; however, it is actually chalcopyrite treated with acid which appears as similar to bornite.
Other names for bornite may include blushing copper, erubescite, peacock copper, purple copper ore, and variegated copper.
It is both a primary and secondary mineral often found in copper ore veins, mainly in hydrothermal metamorphic rocks and in mesothermal veins.
Bornite may also be found in hydrothermal replacement deposits and in igneous intrusions and dikes.
Bornite can be found in Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, where the most distinct and largest crystals have been found.
Good crystals have also come from Shaba, Congo (Zaire), and from the Mangula Mine in Mhangura, Zimbabwe.
Other locations include the province of Cornwall, England, which has produced some crystallized specimens. Other similar crystals have come from San Martin, Zacatecas, Mexico.
In the United States, large quantities in massive form have been extracted from Arizona copper mines; with rare crystals mined in Butte, Montana; and small crystals once found in a copper mine in Bristol, Connecticut.
Bornite has also been extracted in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, as well as from territories in Canada.
Common minerals associated with bornite include galena, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, magnetite, quartz, pyrite, calcite, and barite.
Similar minerals, but can be distinguished from bornite include chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and nickeline.
Bornite was first described in 1725 in an area which is now the Czech Republic.
The name bornite is named for an Austrian mineralogist and paleontologist, Ignatius Von Born.
Bornite is one of the most attractive minerals used for jewelry, though it does have a very high price associated with it.


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