tenorite

Tenorite is a somewhat rare mineral at Tsumeb, although it is easily overlooked. It occurs sparsely and is generally inconspicuous, but it is quite widely distributed in all three oxidation zones. It is, however, very much less common than cuprite.

Tenorite is listed as a second oxidation zone mineral by Strunz et al. (1958a), but it does not appear in their list of first oxidation zone minerals.

Tenorite occurs mainly as dull black crusts on other minerals (Bartelke 1976), but "rarely as thin, flexible, translucent tablets with irregular borders" (Pinch and Wilson 1977).

Keller (1984) described inconspicuous crusts of tenorite on decomposed azurite crystals and noted a more recently discovered paragenesis in which tenorite is associated with hydrocerussite.

Gebhard (1999) also noted the occurrence of tenorite as plates and crusts on some azurite crystals.

anglesite; azurite; copper; dioptase; hydrocerussite; wulfenite