Ceruleite with Schlossmacherite

specimen number:
2354306

location:
Emma Luisa Mine, Taltal, Antofagasta, Chile

description:

Rich blue masses of ceruleite throughout a yellowish green massive schlossmacherite matrix. Very good example for both species.

Situated within the arid Atacama Desert in the Guanaco mining district near Taltal, Chile, the historic Emma Luisa Mine is a high-sulfidation epithermal deposit hosted in strongly altered volcanic rocks. Historically operated for precious metals, the site is internationally renowned among mineral collectors as the type locality for ceruleite, a rare secondary mineral. Ceruleite formed in the intensely oxidized zones of copper and arsenic-bearing ore bodies, where circulating meteoric waters reacted with primary sulfides under extreme desert weathering conditions. This scarce mineral typically occurs as sky-blue to vivid turquoise-blue microcrystalline crusts, earthy nodular masses, or globular aggregates, deriving its striking coloration and name from the Latin word for sky blue.

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