Outstanding blue rouaite crystals from a very limited new find in Tenke-Fungureme mine, Likasi (Tenke, Tenke-Fungurume, Kolwezi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crystals grow on a matrix of cuprite. Rouaite is an extremely copper nitrate rare mineral only found in a few localities worldwide. EDS and XRD analyzed. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rouaite
Rouaite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the nitrate class, with the chemical formula Cu₂(NO₃)(OH)₃.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group P2_1).
Key properties: specific gravity 3.38; Green streak; Vitreous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Rou, IMA status: approved, named in 1999.
Rare in cavities in cuprite from a hydrothermal copper deposit, the nitrate perhaps supplied from guano or organic matter in host-rock pelites (Roua mines, France).
It is found associated with Cuprite, copper, silver, algodonite, domeykite, connellite, olivenite, malachite, theoparacelsite, gerhardtite (Roua mines, France).
The name refers to the Roua copper mines, France, from which the mineral was first described.