Mineralpedia Details for Lavendulan

The name of Lavendulan was recently discovered to be a misnomer after the lavender color of the “type” specimen, which was later discovered to be a mixture and of no relation to the modern Lavendulan which has not been found to exhibit a lavender color. Lavendulan is an uncommon mineral in oxidized copper deposits and can be found in Germany, England, the Czech Republic, Scotland, France, Spain, Tunisia, Iran, Namibia, Morocco, Chile, Australia, and the United States.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/lavendulan.pdf

Formula

NaCaCu₅(AsO₄)₄Cl·5H₂O 

Crystal System

Orthorhombic 

Crystal Habit

Botryoidal, Encrustations 

Cleavage

Perfect, Indistinct, None 

Luster

Vitreous - Waxy 

Color

blue, lavender blue, greenish blue 

Streak

light blue 

Class

Orthorhombic 

Fracture

Brittle - Uneven 

Hardness

2.5 

WebMineral

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Mindat

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Bright blue powdery coatings with good coverage. Very little of this material was found occurding to the 1993 MR issue (v. 24) by Ernie Nickel and Blair Gartrell.

Bright blue micro Lavendulan crystals covering face with minor Olivenite.

Bright sky-blue microcrystalline encrustation of Lavendulan on both sides of matrix.

Bright sky blue coating composed of tiny spherulitic crystals on front and backside.

Clusters to 6mm across.

Electric blue flat crystals to 2mm on face with minor Olivenite.

Vivid or electric blue fantastic platy crystals in sprays of Lavendulan to 0.5mm.

Flashy, electric blue Lavendulan radiating plates of Lavendulan to 3mm across with beads of green Cornwallite. A great arsenate locality in Spain.