|Color||Green, emerald green, or black|
|Crystal habit||Prismatic crystals; acicular needle-like crystals; druse|
|Fracture||Conchoidal - brittle|
|Mohs scale hardness||3.5 - 4.0|
|Luster||Vitreous - pearly|
|Diaphaneity||Transparent to translucent|
|Optical properties||Biaxial (-), 2V measured: 72°|
|Refractive index||nα = 1.728 nβ = 1.771 nγ = 1.800|
|Birefringence||δ = 0.072|
Brochantite is a sulfate mineral, one of a number of cupric sulfates. Its chemical formula is Cu4SO4(OH)6. Formed in arid climates or in rapidly oxidizing copper sulfide deposits, it is named for its discoverer, the French geologist and mineralogist, A. J. M. Brochant de Villiers.
Crystals of brochantite can range from emerald green to black-green to blue-green, and can be acicular or prismatic. Brochantite is often associated with minerals such as malachite, azurite, and chrysocolla, and may form pseudomorphs with these minerals.
|Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brochantite.|