Chessy Blue - GEO 005

GEO 005
Azurite
Class: Mineral
Location: Arizona

So if you haven't already you should check out The Sholesonian over on Facebook to get the latest feed on new specimens and what's going on in the museum. Today's collection piece is a nice sample of azurite. This blue mineral is fairly common and is popular due to the rich blue hue it has. This popularity dates all the way back to the 4th dynasty of Egypt (this is the time when the Great Pyramids were being constructed), where the mineral was powdered and its pigment used for coloring. Now the mineral is used as an indicator of copper ore (the chemical composition of azurite is Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2) and it's used by a variety of crafters and jewelers.

Azurite has a hardness of about 3.75 on Moh's Scale and is roughly four times as dense as water. The mineral also will occasionally be referred to as Chessy or Chessylite after a French mine where many high-quality specimens where found. This particular piece, however heralds from Arizona, USA and is not most pristine specimen. Very nice pieces will show off azurite's conchodial fracture (think rounded crystals) whereas the crystals in this piece are substantially small, but it still has that great signature azure color. More specifics can be found at this very informative azurite page.

UPDATE: Found the label which has plenty of extra information on the locality of this piece. It was found at the 4,750 Feet Level at the Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine in Morenci, Arizona, USA.