What is "violarite"

n. (context mineralogy English) A red-violet supergene sulfide mineral associated with the weathering and oxidation of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide ore minerals.

Violarite ( Fe Ni S) is a supergene sulfide mineral associated with the weathering and oxidation of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide ore minerals.

Violarite crystallises in the isometric system, with a hardness of 4.5 to 5.5 and a specific gravity of about 4, is dark violet grey to copper-red, often with verdigris and patina from associated copper and arsenic sulfides, and is typically in amorphous to massive infill of lower saprolite ultramafic lithologies.

Violarite has a characteristic violet colour, hence the name from the Latin 'violaris' alluding to its colour especially when viewed in polished section under a microscope.