page_title: Calaverite
hierarchical_section_title: Calaverite
caption_attribution_description: English: Calaverite Locality: Cripple Creek, Cripple Creek District, Teller County, Colorado, USA (Locality at mindat.org) Size: 6 x 5 x 3.5 cm. Calaverite is a very rare crystallized gold telluride species, found in good crystals over 1mm in only a relatively few locations. The most classic old US locality for the species is from the silver and gold mines in Cripple Creek, Colorado (late 1800s and early 1900s). Most available specimens come from old collections and museum deaccessions. This is a very rich specimen for sheer quantity of platy calaverite crystals embedded in the matrix, showing brilliant metallic flashes from all sides of the specimen. Many of the embedded crystals reach 1 cm, some clusters more so. This came from Harvard via exchange to Phil Scalisi to George Elling, though no label accompanies the piece. Deutsch: Calaverit Fundort: Cripple Creek, Cripple Creek District, Teller County, Colorado, Vereinigte Staaten (Fundort bei mindat.org) Größe: 6 x 5 x 3.5 cm.
context_page_description: Calaverite, or gold telluride, is an uncommon telluride of gold, a metallic mineral with the chemical formula AuTe₂, with approximately 3% of the gold replaced by silver. It was first discovered in Calaveras County, California in 1861, and was named for the county in 1868.
  The mineral often has a metallic luster, and its color may range from a silvery white to a brassy yellow. It is closely related to the gold-silver telluride mineral sylvanite, which, however, contains significantly more silver. Another AuTe₂ mineral is krennerite. Calaverite and sylvanite represent the major telluride ores of gold, although such ores are minor sources of gold in general. As a major gold mineral found in Western Australia, calaverite played a major role in the 1890s gold rushes in that area.
context_section_description: Calaverite, or gold telluride, is an uncommon telluride of gold, a metallic mineral with the chemical formula AuTe₂, with approximately 3% of the gold replaced by silver. It was first discovered in Calaveras County, California in 1861, and was named for the county in 1868.
  The mineral often has a metallic luster, and its color may range from a silvery white to a brassy yellow. It is closely related to the gold-silver telluride mineral sylvanite, which, however, contains significantly more silver. Another AuTe₂ mineral (but with a quite different crystal structure) is krennerite. Calaverite and sylvanite represent the major telluride ores of gold, although such ores are minor sources of gold in general. As a major gold mineral found in Western Australia, calaverite played a major role in the 1890s gold rushes in that area.
caption: Platy calaverite crystals on matrix from the Cripple Creek District (size:  6 x 5 x 3.5 cm)
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