Auricupride

Auricupride

Auricupride is a natural alloy that combines copper and gold. Its chemical formula is Cu3Au. The alloy crystallizes in the cubic crystal system in the L12 structure type and occurs as malleable grains or platey masses. It is an opaque yellow with a reddish tint. It has a hardness of 3.5 and a specific gravity of 11.5.[3]

Quick Facts General, Category ...

A variant called tetra-auricupride (CuAu) exists. Silver may be present resulting in the variety argentocuproauride (Cu3(Au,Ag)).[2]

It was first described in 1950 for an occurrence in the Ural Mountains in Russia. It occurs as low temperature unmixing product in serpentinites and as reduction "halos" in redbed deposits. It is most often found in Chile, Argentina, Tasmania, Russia, Cyprus, Switzerland and South Africa.[3][2]


References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.



Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Auricupride, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.