Calaverite Locality: Cripple Creek , Cripple Creek District, Teller County , Colorado , USA ( Locality at mindat.org ) Size: 6 x 5 x 3.5 cm. Calaverite is a very rare crystallized gold telluride species, found in good crystals over 1mm in only a relatively few locations. The most classic old US locality for the species is from the silver and gold mines in Cripple Creek, Colorado (late 1800s and early 1900s). Most available specimens come from old collections and museum deaccessions. This is a very rich specimen for sheer quantity of platy calaverite crystals embedded in the matrix, showing brilliant metallic flashes from all sides of the specimen. Many of the embedded crystals reach 1 cm, some clusters more so. This came from Harvard via exchange to Phil Scalisi to George Elling, though no label accompanies the piece. — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Calaverite
A gold telluride — a rare but rich gold ore — discovered in California's Calaveras County in 1861.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Calaverite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the sulfide class, with the chemical formula AuTe₂.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group C2/m). It is a member of the Melonite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 2.5–3; specific gravity 9.1–9.4; Greenish to yellowish gray streak; Metallic luster.
IMA symbol Clv, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1868.
is typically found in veins in low-temperature hydrothermal deposits, but also in medium- and high-temperature deposits.
It is found associated with Altaite, coloradoite, krennerite, rickardite, other tellurides, pyrite, arsenopyrite, tetrahedrite, tennantite, sphalerite, stibnite, other sulfides.
The name refers to its occurrence in Calaveras Co., California, USA.