page_title: Azurite
hierarchical_section_title: Azurite
caption_attribution_description: Azurite, Burra Mine, South Australia
context_page_description: Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a carbonate with the chemical formula Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name kuanos and the Latin name caeruleum. Since antiquity, azurite's exceptionally deep and clear blue has been associated with low-humidity desert and winter skies. The modern English name of the mineral reflects this association, since both azurite and azure are derived via Arabic from the Persian lazhward, an area known for its deposits of another deep-blue stone, lapis lazuli.
context_section_description: Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a carbonate with the chemical formula Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name kuanos (κυανός: "deep blue", root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum. Since antiquity, azurite's exceptionally deep and clear blue has been associated with low-humidity desert and winter skies. The modern English name of the mineral reflects this association, since both azurite and azure are derived via Arabic from the Persian lazhward (لاژورد), an area known for its deposits of another deep-blue stone, lapis lazuli ("stone of azure").
caption: Azurite from Burra Mine, South Australia
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