ROSASITE

HISTORY, NAME, LOCALITIES: Rosasite was discovered in 1908 at the Rosa Mine in Sardinia, Italy, and was recognized as a new mineral species that same year.  Its name derives from the mine where it was discovered.  Collecting localities include Italy, Austria, Spain, England, Germany, Mexico, Australia, and the United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, California, Colorado, Montana).

MINERALOGY, PROPERTIES, OCCURRENCE: Rosasite [basic copper zinc carbonate, (Cu,Zn)₂(CO₃)(OH)₂], pronounced ROHS-ah-site, crystallizes in the monoclinic system as radiating, spherulitic tufts of fibrous, acicular prisms.  Rosasite also forms nodules, crusts, and botryoidal masses.  It is an uncommon mineral with a Mohs hardness of 4.0, perfect cleavage in one direction, fibrous fracture, silky to vitreous luster, and a specific gravity of 4.0-4.2.  Crystals are transparent to translucent and range in color from blue to bluish-green and green.  Rosasite is a secondary mineral that forms in the oxidized portions of copper-zinc deposits, often in association with smithsonite, aurichalcite, limonite, and hemimorphite.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES, LORE, USES: Metaphysical practitioners consider rosasite to be a stone of support, strength, and sustainability that enables one to speak with clarity and recall memories.  Rosasite has no technological uses

COLLECTORS’ INFORMATION: Rosasite is collected for its rarity, pleasing blue and greenish-blue colors, unusual crystal development, and association in composite specimens with such minerals as red limonite and other oxidized, blue-green copper minerals.