Chrysocolla is amongst the most pretty gemstones found in jewelries and considered as a valuable ornament presently. Due to its infamous deep bluish green colour, it is thought of as an attractive find in the world of minerals and fossils. Though pleasant to the eye, most people know little about Chrysocolla and its origins. Frequently confused as Turquoise, it\’s a silicate mineral often formed through the oxidation of copper ores. Its specific and beautiful blue, blue-green and green color with streaks of white to blue green makes it a favourite decorative stone commonly used in jewelries. The name Chrysocolla was first coined in 315 BCE by Theophrastus, a Greek thinker and student of Aristotle. The term Chrysocolla is the combination of two Greek words — chrysos meaning gold and kola meaning glue.

Chrysocolla is mostly associated with other secondary copper mineral. It can have the appearance of turquoise but even mor colourful . Nonetheless Chrysocolla can be difficult for artist to work with and it has a toughness of 2.5 3.5 out of 10 on Moh\’s scale. It is considered valuable due to its attractive colour.

Since it\’s a secondary copper mineral and sometimes found in copper oxidization sections, it replaces other secondary minerals like quartz, malachite, limonite, cuprite and azurite. Given this nature, the persistence of this silicate mineral is crisp and appears clear to opaque. While it is thought of as a minor ore of copper, it is also one of the most typical gemstones used as an ornament presently. Aside from its infamous lush blue-green colour, it may also form in blackish blue and brown colors, though the blue green color is still to be highly popular. Chrysocolla can be considered as one of the most attractive gemstones in the world of mineral and fossils due to its glassy appearance which makes it a fitting ornament stone.

Over time, scientist struggled to discover the real composition of Chrysocolla. However , a study conducted in 2006 provided proofs that Chrysocolla\’s composition contains a copper hydroxide mineral called spertiniite, chalcedony a mineral silica made from quartz and moganite, amorphous silica or generally known as opal, and naturally, water.

Since it forms in regions with high copper oxidation, it can be found in states or locations with copper deposits. In Europe, Cornwall, England is noted to have high occurrence of Chrysocolla formation. In South America, Chile is an outstanding source location and in Africa, it can be discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the States, multiple states were identified to have significant occurrence of Chrysocolla formation. These states are Pennsylvania, Utah, New Mexico and the most important source location in the US is Arizona.

Since the formation and composition of Chrysocolla itself is a wonder in the mineral and gem world, unless you\’d purchase Chrysocolla jewellery, this is a precious stone that may not come along your way every day.