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Malachite mineral

Malachite is the grandfathered copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, recognized by the IMA-CNMNC September 2026 list. It is distinct from elemental copper, azurite, copper oxalate moolooite, malachite-green dye and mixed copper ores. The experiment curated here used synthetic malachite, not a natural ore. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

Culture-associated copper oxalate formation on synthetic malachite

biomineralization Microbial

Associated Organisms: Serpula himantioides (NCBITaxon:80602), Coniophora puteana (NCBITaxon:80637), Serpula lacrymans (NCBITaxon:85982), Amyloporia xantha (NCBITaxon:1333629)

The brown-rot cultures Serpula himantioides LE-BIN 1368, Coniophora puteana LE-BIN 1370 and source-named Antrodia xantha LE-BIN 1029 formed surface deposits assigned to moolooite on synthetic malachite. Powder diffraction and microscopy support source-assigned copper oxalate formation during these laboratory incubations. They do not quantify malachite dissolution, a copper recovery yield, complete conversion or industrial deployment.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Table 3 describes a homogeneous synthetic malachite substrate, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, with possible Fe up to 3.06 wt%. That is a source-reported impurity bound, not a separately measured concentration for every block. The cited synthesis patent is not evidence of natural-mineral provenance or current commercial deployment. Methods 2.2 describes approximately 1 x 0.5 x 0.5 cm blocks in plastic Petri dishes with 20 mL liquid glucose-peptone medium, initial pH 5.5, room temperature and 30 days, in triplicate. Mycelial fragments came from ten-day cultures on glucose-peptone agar. Inoculum amount, substrate sterilization and a separate complete liquid-medium formulation are not specified. The paper names Antrodia xantha; current NCBI taxonomy and its cited ribosomal accession use Amyloporia xantha for LE-BIN 1029. The organisms list includes the tested comparator S. lacrymans; it does not assert identical mineral formation by every listed culture.
Curated Evidence Points:
Table 4 assigns moolooite by both SEM/EDX and PXRD to S. himantioides at pH 3, C. puteana at pH 3.5 and source-named A. xantha at pH 2.5. Figure 3g shows the selected A. xantha product pattern, with underlying-substrate reflections retained. Figures 6d and 7c-d show surface aggregates for those cultures; Section 3.2.2 describes a copper-oxalate crust. These are endpoint phase and morphology observations, not isolated-product mass or purity measurements.
S. lacrymans LE-BIN 1192 has dashes for malachite pH, SEM/EDX and PXRD in Table 4. These mean no reported result in those cells, not a measured zero yield, proven absence of growth or permanent inability to transform malachite. The paper gives no malachite-specific uninoculated phase pattern or quantitative control outcome, although Methods states that fungus-free controls were performed.
Methods states that fungus-free controls were performed, but the selected mineral-arm results do not provide a matched pH-control series or a quantitative inoculated-versus-uninoculated phase balance. No killed-biomass or cell-free-metabolite comparison isolates a necessary causal step. Oxalate secretion is the proposed explanation, without an arm-specific oxalate time course or molecular intervention in this study. PXRD methods are referred to earlier papers; the displayed patterns include substrate peaks. Culture association and source-assigned phases do not establish quantitative microbial enhancement, complete feed consumption or industrial use.
Context_only Source: vlasov2023
This is one arm of Vlasov et al. (2023), also represented by the humboldtine record and separately curated mineral-feed owners. The shared paper, its XML/PDF and the different material views are not independent replications. Its comparison with earlier Aspergillus niger studies uses different protocols and does not establish superior extraction rates for the present cultures. The natural adit observations concern calcium oxalates on wood/carbonate rock; they do not establish field deployment of this particular feed transformation.
Context_only Source: ima_2026_09
The authority establishes the mineral species name and formula, not the purity, valence, hydration or transformation behavior of the specific experimental material.
Species taxonomy verifies identifiers and current names. A species TaxID does not identify the experimental strain or demonstrate its mineral-transforming phenotype.
The deposited sequence carries the Serpula himantioides LE-BIN 1368 source label cited by the paper. This label/sequence match is not independent authentication of the experimental culture or direct evidence for the mechanism.
The deposited sequence carries the Coniophora puteana LE-BIN 1370 source label cited by the paper. This label/sequence match is not independent authentication of the experimental culture or direct evidence for the mechanism.
The deposited sequence carries the Serpula lacrymans LE-BIN 1192 source label cited by the paper. This label/sequence match is not independent authentication of the experimental culture or direct evidence for the mechanism.
The deposited sequence carries the Amyloporia xantha LE-BIN 1029 source label cited by the paper. This label/sequence match is not independent authentication of the experimental culture or direct evidence for the mechanism.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Malachite row, PDF page 133; introductory column definitions and distribution terms.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
  2. vlasov2023: Vlasov, Zelenskaya, Izatulina, Janson and Frank-Kamenetskaya (2023). Oxalate Crystallization under the Action of Brown Rot Fungi. Crystals 13:432. Complete main article; Methods 2.2-2.3, Tables 2-4 and mineral-specific Figures 3-7.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13030432 (accessed 2026-10-12)
  3. ncbi_fungal_taxonomy: NCBI Taxonomy. Species nodes 80602, 80637, 85982 and 1333629; current names and species ranks.
    https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=taxonomy&id=80602,80637,85982,1333629&retmode=xml (accessed 2026-10-12)
  4. genbank_ky352492_1: NCBI GenBank KY352492.1. Ribosomal sequence and source strain label Serpula himantioides LE-BIN 1368; identity context only.
    https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=nuccore&id=KY352492.1&rettype=gb&retmode=text (accessed 2026-10-12)
  5. genbank_ky433978_1: NCBI GenBank KY433978.1. Ribosomal sequence and source strain label Coniophora puteana LE-BIN 1370; identity context only.
    https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=nuccore&id=KY433978.1&rettype=gb&retmode=text (accessed 2026-10-12)
  6. genbank_ky352493_1: NCBI GenBank KY352493.1. Ribosomal sequence and source strain label Serpula lacrymans LE-BIN 1192; identity context only.
    https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=nuccore&id=KY352493.1&rettype=gb&retmode=text (accessed 2026-10-12)
  7. genbank_ky433983_1: NCBI GenBank KY433983.1. Ribosomal sequence and source strain label Amyloporia xantha LE-BIN 1029; identity context only.
    https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=nuccore&id=KY433983.1&rettype=gb&retmode=text (accessed 2026-10-12)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-12T00:15:38Z codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Added IMA-grounded malachite with qualified surface copper-oxalate formation from a synthetic feed, strain-specific outcomes and explicit control, impurity and recovery limits.

Record source: data/records/malachite.yaml