Moolooite Locality: Sarbaiskoe deposit (Sarbai; Sarbay Mine), Qostaney Oblysy (Kostanai "Kustany" Oblast'), Kazakhstan ( Locality at mindat.org ) Blue massive Moolooite (analysed). Field of view 12 mm. Specimen and photo Leon Hupperichs. — Photo: Leon Hupperichs · CC BY-SA 3.0
Moolooite
A rare blue-green hydrated copper oxalate — an organic-mineral discovered in Western Australia in 1986.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Moolooite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the organic mineral class, with the chemical formula Cu(C₂O₄)·nH₂O.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. It is a member of the Oxalate structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 3.43; Dull to waxy luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Moo, IMA status: approved, named in 1980.
On an outcrop of quartz, thought to have formed by reaction between bird guano and soluble secondary copper minerals (Mooloo Station, Australia); in a mine shaft near tree roots (Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France).
It is found associated with Opaline silica, sampleite, libethenite, brochantite, antlerite, atacamite, whewellite, chalcopyrite, digenite, covellite, gypsum, barite.
The name refers to the original locality on Mooloo Station, Australia.