Judging quality
Dark metallic red with a brown-red streak and real weight. It often sits with native copper and green malachite, a diagnostic association.
Oxide
Cuprite
Copper oxide in deep garnet-red cubes and octahedra that glow ruby when back-lit. Namibian Onganja crystals from the 1970s are legendary; the hair-like variety chalcotrichite forms scarlet velvet mats.
Care
Surfaces tarnish and darken with handling. Keep dry and dust-free, handle by the matrix.
History & lore
Cuprite has been a copper ore since antiquity; the ancient workings at Timna and Cyprus worked its weathered zones.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Cuprite
- What is Cuprite?
- Copper oxide in deep garnet-red cubes and octahedra that glow ruby when back-lit. Namibian Onganja crystals from the 1970s are legendary; the hair-like variety chalcotrichite forms scarlet velvet mats.
- How hard is Cuprite and what is it made of?
- Cuprite is a Oxide-family mineral with the composition Cu2O. It crystallizes in the cubic system and rates 3.5-4 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in red, pink-red, black.
- Where does Cuprite come from?
- Notable localities for Cuprite include Onganja, Namibia, Tsumeb, Namibia, Arizona, USA, Russia.
- How do you tell good Cuprite from filler?
- Dark metallic red with a brown-red streak and real weight. It often sits with native copper and green malachite, a diagnostic association.
- How do you care for Cuprite?
- Surfaces tarnish and darken with handling. Keep dry and dust-free, handle by the matrix.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.