Linarite is a somewhat rare, crystalline mineral that is known among mineral collectors for its unusually intense, pure blue color. It is formed by the oxidation of

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

and

chalcopyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mo ...

and other copper sulfides. It is a combined copper lead

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...

hydroxide Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a single covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It ...

with formula PbCuSO₄(OH)₂. Linarite occurs as monoclinic prismatic to tabular crystals and irregular masses. It is easily confused with

azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic ca ...

, but does not react with dilute hydrochloric acid as azurite does. It has a

Mohs hardness The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by ...

of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 5.3 - 5.5. Linarite was first identified in 1822. It is named after the Linares Plateau, Spain. It occurs in association with brochantite,

anglesite Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and ...

caledonite Caledonite, whose name derives from Caledonia, the historical name of its place of discovery (Scotland), is a richly colored blue-green sulfate-carbonate mineral of lead and copper with an orthorhombic crystal structure. It is an uncommon mineral ...

, leadhillite, cerussite,

malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fracture ...

and

hemimorphite Hemimorphite is the chemical compound Zn4( Si2O7)( OH)2 ·H2O, a component of mineral calamine. It is a silicate mineral which, together with smithsonite (ZnCO3), has been historically mined from the upper parts of zinc and lead ores. Both com ...

Image gallery

File:Linarite-130099.jpg, A shallow pocket of crystals of an intense cobalt blue, from Darwin, Darwin District, Inyo County, California, USA File:Linarite-37781.jpg, Linarite with

, Blanchard Mine, Hansonburg District, Socorro County, New Mexico USA (Size: 1.1 x 0.8 x 0.4 cm) File:Linarite-Caledonite-53689.jpg, Linarite with

, from Baker, El Dorado County, California USA (Size 5.4 x 5.2 x 3.2 cm) File:Malachite-Linarite-Cerussite-173905.jpg, Unusual cerussite with a coating ingrained into the surface of microcrystalline malachite and linarite that give it a rich blue-green color

References

Mineral galleries
Lead minerals Copper(II) minerals Sulfate minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 11 {{sulfate-mineral-stub