Native Copper
Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan

This specimen measures 11.5cm x 7cm


Copper       Cu

Native Elements; often with small amounts of arsenic, antimony, bismuth, iron, and silver

Color and Luster: Copper-red; tarnish black, blue, green; metallic; streak copper-red, shiny

Hardness: 2.5-3

Cleavage: None

Fracture: Hackly; ductile and malleable

Crystals: Isometric; usually form cubic and dodecahedral, rarely octahedral; often flattened, elongated, distorted; also scales, plates, lumps, branching aggregates

Photo by Mary Sutherland


Descriptions taken from
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals