Ontario Mineral - Chalcopyrite

Rocks minerals Ontario Chalcopyrite
Chemistry:
 CuFeS2, Copper Iron Sulfide
Class:
 Sulfides
Group:
 Chalcopyrite
Uses:
 Major ore of copper
Color:
 brassy yellow, tarnishes to irredescent blues, greens, yellows and purples.
Luster:
 metallic
Transparency:
 Crystals are opaque
Crystal System:
 tetragonal; bar 4 2m
Crystal Habits:
 predominantly the disphenoid which is like two opposing wedges and resembles a tetrahedron. Crystals sometines twinned. Also commonly massive, and sometimes botryoidal.
Cleavage:
rather poor in one direction.
Fracture:
 conchoidal and brittle
Hardness:
 3.5-4
Specific Gravity:
 approximately 4.2 (average for metallic minerals)
Streak
 dark green
Other Characteristics:
 Some striations on most crystal faces
Associated Minerals:
 quartz, fluorite , barite , dolomite , calcite , pentlandite , pyrite and other sulfides
Local Occurance:
 Bessemer Mine
Best Field Indicators:
 crystal habit, tarnish, softness and brittleness.

Description:

Chalcopyrite (or copper pyrite), looks like, and is easily confused with Pyrite , FeS2. Chalcopyrite is one of the minerals refered to as "Fool's Gold" because of its bright golden color. But real gold is a more buttery yellow and is ductile and malleable.
As an ore od copper, the yield of chalcopyrite is rather low in terms of atoms per molecule. It is only 25%, compared to other copper minerals such as chalcocite , Cu2S - 67%; cuprite , Cu2O - 67%; covellite, CuS - 50% or bornite Cu5FeS4 - 50%. However the large quantities and widespread distribution of chalcopyrite make it the leading source of copper. Chalcopyrite is a common mineral and is found in almost all sulfide deposits. Fine crystals of chalcopyrite have a unique character and can add to anyone's collection