Colors:
Blue-green to light green.
Optic Character : DR,
Biaxial
Cause
of Color: Copper
Fluorescence: None
Fracture
: Concoidal
Luster
: Dull to Vitreous
Cleavage : Perfect
Durability: Poor
Localities:
New Cornelia Mine, Ajo District, Pima County and Wickenburg, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA and the Messina District, South Africa
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Ajoite
(K, Na)Cu7Al(Si3O86 - 3H2O
Ajoite is a secondary copper silicate mineral that is named for its type locality in the Ajo District of Pima County, Arizona. It results from the oxidation of other secondary copper minerals. Ajoite forms excellent microcrystal specimens but is most often seen gemologicaly as an inclusion in quartz. The small prismatic crystals are often arranged in tufts with an almost aquamarine-like blue green color. It is often associated with other rare and colorful minerals such as shattuckite, copper, papagoite and plancheite. The color variety in a single multi-mineral specimen is sometimes surreal. Massive examples of ajoite have also been found,
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