enargite

[en-ahr-jahyt, en-er-jahyt]

noun

1. a mineral, copper arsenic and sulfide, Cu 3 AsS 4 , occurring in the form of black orthorhombic crystals having perfect cleavage: an important source of copper.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enargite¹

1850–55; < Greek enarg ( ḗs ) brilliant ( en- en- ² + -argēs, akin to argós bright, árgyros silver) + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The natural inference was that as the veins were followed deeper the proportion of chalcocite would rapidly diminish, and that a leaner primary zone of chalcopyrite, enargite and other primary minerals would be met.

From Project Gutenberg

The common downward order in sulphide deposits is: first, a weathered zone, originally formed mainly above the water table, consisting above of a leached portion and below of oxides and carbonates of copper in a gangue of quartz or clay; second, a zone of secondary sulphide enrichment, characterized by chalcocite coatings, chalcopyrite, and pyrite, with a gangue of quartz and igneous rock or limestone; and third, a zone of primary deposition with similar gangue, characterized by chalcopyrite, and at Butte by enargite and chalcocite.

From Project Gutenberg