Where it forms, where it's found
- Geological setting
Placers derived from serpentine.
- Type locality
- Khatyrka meteorite
- Iomrautvaam massif
- Anadyrsky District
- Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
- Russia
62.6531°, 174.5006°
1recorded occurrences
Physical
- Hardness
- 1Talc
- 2Gypsum
- 3Calcite
- 4Fluorite
- 5Apatite
- 6Orthoclase
- 7Quartz
- 8Topaz
- 9Corundum
- 10Diamond
- Lustre
- Metallic
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Colour
- Steel yellow
- Density
- 5.12 g/cm³
Optical
- Anisotropism
- Weak from light gray to gray.
- Bireflectance
- Very weak, gray to dark gray
- Tropism
- Anisotropic
- Reflectance R%
- (66.8) 440, (65.3) 480, (63.7) 520, (62.1) 560, (60.4) 600, (58.9) 640, (57.7) 680, (56.9) 720
Reflected-light panel
R̄ 61.5 %isotropic · single curve
Specimen
White reference
Crystallography
- Cell parameters
- a = 6.94 Å · b = 4.12 Å · c = 10.14 Å
- Ratio a:b:c
- 1 : 0.594 : 1.461
- Z
- 10
- Morphology
Grains to 35 microns
- Type-locality form
Myrmekitic and dendritic droplike grains to 5x35 um within khatyrkite and as rounded or irregular grains from to 10x20 um in cracks and interstices in khatyrkite.
- Comment
Point Group: n.d.; Space Group: n.d
Crystal structure
Chemical composition
Synonyms
- Cupaliet
- IMA1983-084
In other languages
- German
- Cupalit · IMA 1983-084
- Italian
- Cupalite
- Japanese
- アルミニウム銅 · クパライト
Classification
Strunz
10th ed.1.AA.20
- 1ElementsClass
- 1.AMetals and Intermetallic AlloysDivision
- 1.AACopper-cupalite familyGroup
- 1.AA.20CupaliteSpecies
Dana
8th ed.01.01.15.01
- 01Native Elements and AlloysClass
- 01.01Metals, other than the Platinum GroupType
- 01.01.15— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 01.01.15.01CupaliteSpecies
CIM
—1.23
- 1Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)Class
- 1.23— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 1.23CupaliteSpecies
Group, growth & confusion
Literature, links & citation
Citations
- 1938Bradley, A.J., Goldschmidt, H.J., Lipson, H. (1938) The intermediate phases in the aluminium-copper system after slow cooling. The Journal of the Institute of Metals: 63: 149-161.
- 1972El-Boragy, Mohamed, Szepan, Reiner, Schubert, Konrad (1972) Kristallstruktur von Cu3Al2+ (h) und CuAl (r). Journal of the Less Common Metals, 29 (2). 133-140 doi:10.1016/0022-5088(72)90183-xDOI: 10.1016/0022-5088(72)90183-x
- 1985Razin, L.V., Rudashevskij, N.S., and Vyalsov, L.N. (1985) New natural intermetallic compounds of aluminium, copper and zinc—khatyrkite CuAl2, cupalite, CuAl and zinc aluminides—from hyperbasites of dunite-harzburgite formation. Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva: 114: 90–100 (in Russian).
- 1986Hawthorne, Frank C., Fleischer, Michael, Grew, Edward S., Grice, Joel D., Jambor, John L., Puziewicz, J., Roberts, Andrew C., Vanko, D. A., Zilczer, J. A. (1986) New mineral names. American Mineralogist, 71. 1277-1282
- 2007(2007) Cupalite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
author = {Mineral Index editorial board},
title = {Cupalite — Mineral Index},
year = {2026},
url = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/cupalite-1171},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}