Title
roxbyite
Composition
Cu58S32
Crystal System
Triclinic
Status at Tsumeb
Believed valid
Abundance
Extremely rare
Distribution
Sulphide ores.
Paragenesis
Supergene (?)
Type Locality
No
Entry Type
Species TSNB305
General Notes
The occurrence of roxbyite at Tsumeb was reported by Blass et al. (2009) who confirmed its presence on a specimen collected in 1982 but from an unknown location in the mine. The specimen consists of weathered galena-rich sulphide ore, with geometrical cavities apparently where galena crystals were once located. These cavities are lined with a thin crust of cerussite and intergrown digenite and roxbyite (EDS and XRD analysed).
While roxbyite is considered to be extremely rare at Tsumeb it is fair to say that it would be very easily overlooked, likely to be visible only through reflected light microscopy and requiring sophisticated analysis for verification.
Associated Minerals
cerussite; chalcocite; digenite; galena