The deposit was mined for copper, but on rather small scale. The main ore mineral is chalcocite, but the overall mineralogy is pretty complex. Beside of the copper oxidation zone minerals the ore shows a high content of cassiterite and bismuth. Les Clochettes was the second locality where roquesite was found. The Les Clochette deposit is similar to the Charrier one which was mined on a large scale.
Polished slab. Due to the high reflectivity the chalcocite can be seen as dark areas. Width: 11 cm
Polished slab. Width: 10 cm
The polished sample of mainly chalcocite with possibly löllingite (white) with Nic //, Obj. 20x, air.:
Cassiterite, bismuth, minor amounts of digenite and covellite; Nic //, Obj. 20x, air:
Same with Nic +, 100 µm scale bar. The covellite shows the typical orange anisotropy:
Same as above; Nic //, Obj. 50x, air, 50 µm scale bar:
Digenite and covellite, Nic //, Obj. 50x, air:
Same as above with Nic +:
For further informations on the region this article might be interesting:
Picot, P.: Un nouvel indice de roquesite CulnS2 : Les Clochettes, col du Lautaret (Hautes-Alpes). Bull Soc franc Miner Crist.96.(1973).319-320.