Chalcanthite is a richly coloured sulfate mineral. The name chalcanthite is derived from the Greek word 'chalkos' and 'anthos' which means flower. Chalcanthite appears in many places around the world. However, due to the fact that chalcanthite is soluble in water, natural crystals can usually only be found in arid regions.

Within the metaphysical realm of minerals, chalcanthite is an excellent throat chakra stone. It is said to help further desires through communication abilities. It is also said to help one stay in the now and enjoy life, as well as get rid of feelings of abandonment. Chalcanthite is reputed to eliminate delays of things in progress. It is also used metaphysically for insight, clairvoyance, and psychic attunement. It is said to enhance one's ability to "read" people and situation.

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.

As chalcanthite is a copper mineral, it can be used as an ore of copper. However, its ready solubility in water means that it tends to crystallize, dissolve, and re-crystallize as crusts over any mine surface in more humid regions. Therefore, chalcanthite is only found in the most arid regions in sufficiently large quantities for use as an ore.

Chalcanthite is commonly found in the late-stage oxidation zones of copper deposits. Due to its ready solubility, chalcanthite is more common in arid regions.

Chalcanthite is a pentahydrate and the most common member of a group of similar hydrated sulfates, the chalcanthite group. These other sulfates are identical in chemical composition to chalcanthite, with the exception of replacement of the copper ion by either manganese as jokokuite, iron as siderotil, or magnesium as pentahydrite. Due to the solubility of chalcanthite, there are significant problems when trying to store the mineral. The mineral readily absorbs and releases its water content, which, over time, leads to a disintegration of the crystal structure, destroying even the finest specimens. It is critical to store specimens properly to limit exposure to humidity. Second, higher quality crystals can be easily grown synthetically, and, as such, there is a concern that disreputable mineral dealers would present a sample as natural when it is not.

Other than in the basic mineral form, chalcanthite can be found in twelve distinct varieties:

Phillipite

Cleavage	Indistinct to Imperfect
Colour(s)	Green, Green blue, Light blue, Dark blue
Specific Gravity	2.21
Diaphaneity	Translucent to Sub transparent
Fracture	Conchoidal
Mohs Hardness	2.5
Luminescence	Non-fluorescent
Lustre	Vitreous
Streak	White
Habit(s)	Encrustations to Reniform to Stalactitic
Radioactivity	Non-radioactive
Magnetism	Diamagnetic

The following health hazards should be noted when handling chalcanthite

	TOXIC Chalcanthite is fatal if ingested and will also stain the skin for several days.
	ENVIORNMENTAL HAZARD Chalcanthite has a mildly sweet taste and may be ingested, although fatal, by animals.

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

Crystal System	Triclinic
Class	Pinacoidal
Axial Ratios	a : b : c = 0.5719 : 1 : 0.5579
Optical Data Type	Biaxial (-)
Pleochroism (x)	N/A
Pleochroism (y)	N/A
RL Values	nα = 1.514 nβ = 1.537 nγ = 1.543
2V	Measured: 56° , Calculated: 56°
Max Birefringence	δ = 0.029 (See colour chart at right)
Surface Relief	Low
Dispersion	Weak r < v

Chalcanthite can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following seven names:

Blue Stone	Blue Vitriol	Chalkanthite	Copper Vitriol
Cyanosite	Cyprian vitriol	Sulphate of Copper

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

Arabic		Bulgarian		Chinese (Sim)	胆矾
Croatian		Czech	Chalkantit	Danish
Dutch	Chalcanthiet	Esperanto		Estonian
Finnish		French	Chalcantite	German	Chalkanthit
Greek		Hebrew		Hungarian	Kalkantit
Italian	Calcantite	Japanese	胆礬	Korean	찰칸차잍
Latin	Chalcanthum	Lithuanian		Norwegian
Persian		Polish	Chalkantyt	Portuguese	Calcantite
Romanian		Russian	Халькантит	Slovak	Chalkantit
Spanish	Chalcantita	Swedish		Tagalog
Turkish		Ukrainian	Халькантит	Vietnamese

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 chalcanthite identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

What's this? This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to MIROFOSS articles. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by smart phone cameras. This QR Code is unique to this MIROFOSS article. What can I do with it? You can copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, web site, magazines, or newspaper so smart phone users can scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to this specific article.

Crystallography	Bandy (1938) American Mineralogist: 23: 718.
History	Palache, C., Berman, H., & Frondel, C. (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 7th edition, revised and enlarged, 1124 pp.: 488-491.
History	Gaines, Richard V., H. Catherine, W. Skinner, Eugene E. Foord, Brian Mason, Abraham Rosenzweig (1997), Dana's New Mineralogy : The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, 8th. edition: 605.
Geographical Data	Mindat.org. Retrieved on 2013-02-04
Physical Identification	Webmineral.com. Retrieved on 2013-02-04.
February 04, 2013	The last time this page was updated