Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A dark gray mineral, essentially Cu2S, that is an important ore of copper.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A native copper sulphid (Cu2S), a mineral of a lead-gray to black color and metallic luster.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Min.) Native copper sulphide, called also copper glance, and vitreous copper; a mineral of a black color and metallic luster.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun mineralogy Cuprous sulphide, Cu2S, an important ore of copper.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a heavy grey mineral that is an ore of copper

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of obsolete chalcosine, from Greek khalkos, copper.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word chalcocite.

Examples

  • "chalcocite" of our present metallurgical science, which is a sulphide containing very nearly eighty per cent. of copper.

    History of Phoenicia George Rawlinson 1857

  • The copper in these deposits occurs as primary chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) or the important secondary copper mineral chalcocite (Cu2S).

    Rhenium 2008

  • In the easy recognition of the secondary copper sulphides, chalcocite, bornite, etc., the engineer finds a finger-post on the road to extension in depth; and the directions upon this post are not to be disregarded.

    Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration Herbert Hoover 1919

  • No traces of other primary minerals are present and the chalcocite here is regarded as probably primary.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • In the United Verde Mine, oxidizing conditions at present prevail to the bottom of the chalcocite zone.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • The essential fact appears to be that as enrichment progresses and chalcocite increases the process of enrichment becomes slower in action, and erosion may, in some circumstances, overtake it.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • The primary copper mineral in the limestone is chalcocite, in exceptionally rich and solid masses, showing no evidence of having replaced earlier sulphides.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • It was formerly supposed that most of the chalcocite was of this origin; but as chalcocite is found in important amounts with enargite and chalcopyrite to great depths (now 3,500 feet), where the veins are still rich and strong, it begins to appear that much of the chalcocite is of primary origin.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • Copper is known to be taken into solution as copper sulphate at the surface, and to be redeposited as chalcocite where these sulphate solutions come in contact with chalcopyrite or pyrite below.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • While some chalcocite is clearly the result of secondary enrichment from above, other chalcocite seems to have been related closely to the primary deposition.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.