Formula: Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂

Species:

Colour: Azure blue, blue, light blue, or dark blue; light blue in transmitted light

Lustre: Vitreous

Hardness: 3½ – 4

Specific Gravity: 3.77

Crystal System: Monoclinic Azurite is typically found as tabular to prismatic crystals of a deep “azure blue” color with splendent vitreous faces. There are over 45 well-known forms, and over 100 forms have been described. Azurite is often pseudomorphed to Malachite, and the two are very frequently found together.

Name: From the ancient Persian lazhward, meaning “blue”, in allusion to the color. Name changed to azurite in 1824 by François Sulpice Beudant.

Type Locality: Chessy copper mines, Chessy, Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – France

A secondary copper mineral frequently found in the oxidized zones of Cu-bearing ore deposits.