Papagoite: Gemstone Information

Papagoite is CaCuAlSi2O6(OH)3 and forms crystalline coatings and aggregates of the monoclinic system; crystals are too small to be fashioned. The colour is cerulean blue. The hardness is 5–5.5 and the SG 3.25. The RI for the alpha, beta and gamma rays is 1.607, 1.641 and 1.672, biaxial negative with birefringence 0.065. Papagoite is often mixed with quartz and occurs in narrow veinlets in altered granodiorite porphyry at the New Cornelia mine, Ajo, Pima County, Arizona, USA.