Where it forms, where it's found
- Geological setting
Stratabound bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralization and djurleite-bornite-roxbyite lenses and cross cutting veins.
- Type locality
- Olympic Dam Mine
- Olympic Dam
- Pastoral Unincorporated Area
- South Australia
- Australia
-30.4400°, 136.8728°
35recorded occurrences
Physical
- Hardness
- 1Talc
- 2Gypsum
- 3Calcite
- 4Fluorite
- 5Apatite
- 6Orthoclase
- 7Quartz
- 8Topaz
- 9Corundum
- 10Diamond
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Colour
- Blue-black to black
- Cleavage
- Poor/Indistinct
(100)
- Fracture
- Irregular/Uneven · Step-Like
Optical
- UV response
- Not fluorescent in UV
Crystallography
- Cell parameters
- a = 13.4051(9) Å · b = 13.4090(8) Å · c = 15.4852(3) Å
- Cell angles
- α = 90.022(2) ° · β = 90.021(2) ° · γ = 90.020(2) °
- Ratio a:b:c
- 1 : 1.000 : 1.155
- Z
- 2
- Morphology
As single crystals, to 0.01 mm, epitaxially intergrown with djurleite; in powdery mixtures with djurleite.
- Type-locality form
Mixture with djurleite. Small single crystals with dimensions up to 0.01 mm.
- Comment
Pseudo-monoclinic, with pseudo-space group C2/m, Cm or C2, and a = 53.79, b = 30.90, c = 13.36 Å, beta = 90°. Type material is complexly twinned in six sectors.
Crystal structure
Chemical composition
Synonyms
- IMA1986-010
- Roxbyiet
In other languages
- German
- IMA 1986-010 · Roxbyit
- Italian
- Roxbyite
Classification
Strunz
10th ed.2.BA.05
- 2Sulfides and SulfosaltsClass
- 2.BMetal Sulfides, M: S > 1: 1 (mainly 2: 1)Division
- 2.BAWith Cu, Ag, AuGroup
- 2.BA.05RoxbyiteSpecies
Dana
8th ed.02.04.07.04
- 02SulfidesClass
- 02.04AmBnXp, with (m+n):p = 2:1Type
- 02.04.07Chalcocite Group ([Cu]2-x S] formulae)Group
- 02.04.07.04RoxbyiteSpecies
CIM
—3.1.5
- 3Sulphides, Selenides, Tellurides, Arsenides and Bismuthides (except the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au, which are included in Section 1)Class
- 3.1Sulphides etc. of CuGroup
- 3.1.5RoxbyiteSpecies
Group, growth & confusion
Literature, links & citation
Citations
- 1988Mumme, W. G., Sparrow, G. J., Walker, G. S. (1988) Roxbyite, a New Copper Sulphide Mineral from the Olympic Dam Deposit, Roxby Downs, South Australia. Mineralogical Magazine, 52 (366) 323-330 doi:10.1180/minmag.1988.052.366.03DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1988.052.366.03
- 1989Jambor, John L., Vanko, David A. (1989) New mineral names. American Mineralogist, 74 (7-8) 946-951
- 2005(2005) Roxbyite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
- 2012Mumme, W. G., Gable, R. W., Petricek, V. (2012) The crystal structure of roxbyite, Cu58S32. The Canadian Mineralogist, 50 (2) 423-430 doi:10.3749/canmin.50.2.423 DOI: 10.3749/canmin.50.2.423
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
author = {Mineral Index editorial board},
title = {Roxbyite — Mineral Index},
year = {2026},
url = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/roxbyite-3468},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}