Calaverite
Minerals are what the earth and all living things are made of. We use them everyday and sometimes we don’t even know that we are using it. One of the everyday minerals we use is calaverite. Calaverite is an uncommon mineral and many mineral collectors and those seeking fortune because it is an ore of gold.
Calaverite is made of AuTe2; a common name for this is gold and tellurium. The physical properties of calaverite is:
Color is silver white to brassy yellow.
Luster is a bright metallic.
Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
Crystal System: Monoclinic; 2/m
Crystal Habits include prismatic to more rarely tabular crystals that are often twinned into sharp bends, reticulated individuals and skeletal or arborescent formations. These are sometimes described as looking like writing. Also found as granular masses.
Cleavage is absent.
Fracture is conchoidal.
Hardness is 2.5 – 3
Specific Gravity is approximately 9.1 – 9.3 (very heavy even for metallic minerals).
Streak is a yellow gray.
Other Characteristics: Crystals tend to be deeply striated parallel to the prominent length.
Associated Minerals include gold, quartz, celestite, fluorite, pyrite, nagyagite, sylvanite, krennerite and other rare telluride minerals.
Notable Occurrences include Cripple Creek in Teller County, Colorado and Calaveras County (from where it gets its name), California, USA; Nagyag, Romania; Kirkland lake Gold District, Ontario and Rouyn District, Quebec, Canada and Kalgoorlie, Australia.
Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, density, softness, color, luster, association with other tellurides and gold and lack of cleavage.
Calaverite is found in