Clinoatacamite on Quartz

Clinoatacamite – Cu2Cl(OH)3
Class: Halides
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Hardness: 3
Calcite
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
A copper coin can scratch it.
Quartz – SiO2
Elements: Silicon, Oxygen
Class: Silicates – Tectosilicates
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Hardness: 7
Quartz
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Very hard. Scratches glass and steel.
Origin: Lily Mine, Pisco Umay, Ica – Peru
Did you know?

For years a related mineral took the blame for bronze disease, the creeping green corrosion that eats ancient bronzes. Closer analysis pinned much of it on clinoatacamite, the mineral quietly turning museum bronzes to powder.

Pressing a quartz crystal makes it give off a precise electric beat, which is why it keeps time in nearly every watch and once tuned the radios of World War II, when good crystals were a strategic resource.