Mineral Name Erythrite
First Discovered 1832
Nickel-Strunz Classification 08.CE.40
Dana Classification 40.03.06.03
ICSD 81385
Mineral Group Phosphates

 

Erythrite is a secondary hydrated cobalt arsenate mineral. Erythrite was first described in 1832 for an occurrence in Grube Daniel, Schneeberg, Saxony,and takes its name from the Greek έ�?υθ�?ος (erythros), meaning red. Historically, erythrite itself has not been an economically important mineral, but a geologist may use it as a guide to locating associated elements such as cobalt and native silver. Notable localities are Cobalt, Ontario; Schneeberg, Saxony, Germany; Joachimsthal, Czech Republic; Cornwall, England; Bou Azzer, Morocco; the Blackbird mine, Lemhi County, Idaho; Sara Alicia mine, near Alamos, Sonora, Mexico; Mt. Cobalt, Queensland and the Dome Rock copper mine, Mingary, South Australia.

Within the metaphysical realm of minerals, Erythrite allows for flowing, strong connections between all of a believer's Chakras, bringing the use of loving personal power to the realm of spirituality. It brings harmony in communications and imparts responsiveness, as well as helping the believer to see in many directions and assimilate the knowledge coming from each. Erythrite does contain harmful elements which can be seen in further detail in the 'Health Hazards' section of this article.

Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that minerals should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.

Erythrite is generally used as a collectors mineral and as an identifier for cobalt and silver.

Erythrite is a secondary mineral in cobalt-bearing deposits.

Erythrite occurs as a secondary mineral in the oxide zone of Co–Ni–As bearing mineral deposits. It occurs in association with cobaltite, skutterudite, symplesite, roselite-beta, scorodite, pharmacosiderite, adamite, morenosite, retgersite, and malachite. The nickel variety, annabergite, occurs as a light green nickel bloom on nickel arsenides. In addition iron, magnesium and zinc can also substitute for the cobalt position, creating three other minerals: parasymplesite (Fe), hörnesite (Mg) and kottigite (Zn). The colour of erythrite is crimson to pink and occurs as a secondary coating known as cobalt bloom on cobalt arsenide minerals. Well-formed crystals are rare, with most of the mineral manifesting in crusts or small reniform aggregates.

Other than in the basic mineral form, erythrite can be found in one distinct variety:

Cleavage Perfect
Colour(s) Colourless, Violet red, Light pink, Purple red
Specific Gravity 3.12
Diaphaneity Transparent to Sub transparent
Fracture Sectile - Curved shavings or scrapings produced by a knife blade
Mohs Hardness 1.5 to 2.0
Luminescence Non-fluorescent
Lustre Pearly
Streak Pinkish red
Habit(s) Divergent to Prismatic to Striated
Radioactivity Non-radioactive
Magnetism Non-magnetic

The following health hazards should be noted when handling erythrite:

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD

erythrite contains the elements Arsenic and Cobalt which are known to cause long term environmental effects.

TOXIC

Conichalcite contains the element Arsenic which is fatal if ingested.


The following image shows the Elemental breakdown of the mineral erythrite along with the mineral crystal structure.

Crystal System Monoclinic
Class Prismatic
Axial Ratios a : b : c = 0.7629 : 1 : 0.3545
Morphology Crystals prismatic to acicular and typically flattened; deeply striated or furrowed. Crystals are rare; frequently as radial or stellate groups; globular or reniform shapes with druzy surfaces and columnar or coarse-fibrous structure. Earthy or pulverulent.
Optical Data Type Biaxial(+)
Pleochroism Visible
RL Values nα = 1.626 - 1.629 nβ = 1.662 - 1.663 nγ = 1.699 - 1.701
2V Measured: 85° to 90°, Calculated: 88° to 90°
Max Birefringence δ = 0.073 (See colour chart at right)
Surface Relief Moderate
Comments May be biaxial negative
   
   

Erythrite can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following nine names:


The mineral erythrite can be translated into the following select languages:

Arabic   Bulgarian   Chinese (Sim) 钴华
Croatian   Czech   Danish  
Dutch Erythriet Esperanto   Estonian erütriit
Finnish erytriitti French érythrite German Erythrin
Greek   Hebrew   Hungarian Eritrin
Italian Eritrite Japanese エリトリット Korean 요르맆라읻
Latin Cobalti minera colore rubro Lithuanian   Norwegian  
Persian اریتریت Polish Erytryn Portuguese eritrite
Romanian Vanadinit Russian Эритрин Slovak  
Spanish Eritrina Swedish Koboltbeslag Tagalog  
Turkish eritrit Ukrainian Еритрин Vietnamese  

Erythrite can be found in a few places around the world. The map below shows major documented concentrations of erythrite:

The MIROFOSS database offers free printable geological identification tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify mineral samples in your collection. -Click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a erythrite identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Crystallography Larsen, E.S. and Berman, H. (1934) The Microscopic Determination of the Nonopaque Minerals, Second edition, USGS Bulletin 848: 120, 178.
Crystallography G. H. Faye and E. H. Nickel (1968): The origin of pleochroism in erythrite. Can. Mineral. 9, 493-504.
History Anthony, J.W., Bideaux, R.A., Bladh, K.W., and Nichols, M.C. (2000) Handbook of Mineralogy, Volume IV. Arsenates, Phosphates, Vanadates. Mineral Data Publishing, Tucson, AZ, 680 pp.: 159.
History Wolfe (1940) American Mineralogist: 25: 804.
Geograpcial Data Mindat.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-30
Physical Identification Webmineral.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-30
May 30, 2012 The last time this page was updated
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