Covellite

Description

Covellite has a hardness of 1½ – 2 and a specific gravity of 4.6 – 4.76. Named in 1832 by Francois Sulpice Beudant in honor of Niccolo Covelli, an Italian mineralogist and discoverer of the mineral at Mount Vesuvius.

Found in a few thousand localities worldwide and more than a hundred localities within Colorado, usually as a secondary copper mineral in copper deposits, and often associated with Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Quartz, Bornite, Malachite, Chalcocite, Calcite, Anglesite, Enargite, and Galena.

At roughly 66.5% Copper and 33.5% Sulfur, this would make for a great sample of Copper for element collectors and those looking to collect Copper as it’s found in nature. However, being a valuable Colorado rock from a famous Colorado mine and such a cool, colorful mineral, this is going to be a bit more expensive than a generic Azurite or Copper nugget from Arizona or Michigan and a bit more flashy than necessary for element collectors and will ikely find a home with a Colorado mineral collector.

Be on the lookout for a rock like this during your next hike and you might just come into a fortune with the discovery of your new Copper mine!